THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


The    Red    Hand   of    Ulster 


History 


BY 


JOHN     G.    ROWE 

Author  of  "in  Nelson's  Day,"  "Por  His  Father's  Honour. 
"The  Pilgrims  of  Grace."  etc. 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,  AND     CO. 

39     PATERNOSTER     ROW,  LONDON 

NEW     YORK,     BOMBAY,     AND  CALCUTTA 

1915 


Co  fjer 

teponti   tfje 

gratoe,   at   tofcose 

knee  3  first  learneti  to 

lobe  ^relantJ,  5  toetucate 

book  as  a 

lobtng 
tribute 


2061032 


I  loved  a  love — a  royal  love — 

In  the  golden  long  ago  ; 
And  she  was  fair  as  fair  could  be, 
The  foam  upon  the  broken  sea, 
The  sheen  of  sun,  or  moon  or  star, 
The  sparkle  from  the  diamond  spar, 
Not  half  so  rare  and  radiant  are 
As  my  own  love — my  royal  love — 

In  the  golden  long   ago." 

Edmund  Ltamy,  M.P. 


PREFACE. 


"The  story  of  our  native  land,  from  weary  age  to  age, 
Is  writ  in  blood  and   scalding  tears  on   many  a  gloomy  page." 

My  idea,  in  compiling  this  book,  was  to  get  away 
from  "  the  blood  and  scalding  tears "  as  much  as 
possible,  to  avoid  the  horrible  and  gruesome,  those 
detestable  cruelties  and  inhumanities  which  have 
too  long  made  Irish  History  a  nightmare  to  all,  which 
must  fill  the  minds  of  even  adult  readers  with  sickening 
horror  and  bitter  resentment,  and  the  recapitulation 
of  which  to-day  can  serve  no  good  purpose,  but  merely 
keep  alive  racial  hatreds. 

I  have  sought,  on  the  other  hand,  to  display  in  the 
most  glowing  colours  all  the  romance  and  glory  bound 
up  in  the  history  of  a  land  which,  I  assert,  is  perhaps 
more  entitled  to  be  called  one  of  romance  than  any 
other  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  that  from  earliest 
times  up  to  the  present.  And  my  object  in  doing  so 
is  to  awaken  a  deep  and  true  love  of  our  country  and 
her  heroic  past  in  the  hearts  of  the  rising  generation. 


V1U  PREFACE. 

If  a  perusal  of  this  book  inspire  the  student  of  Irish 
History  to  prosecute  deeper  research,  the  author  will 
feel  that  his  task — a  labour  of  love  on  the  whole — 
has  not  been  labour  wasted,  has  not  been  vain. 

JOHN  G.  ROWE. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

THE    GOLDEN   AGE    OF   ANCIENT   ERIN. 
CHAP.  PAGE 

I. — THE  COMING  OP  THE  MILESIANS      .        .      3 
II. — THE  RED  BRANCH  KNIGHTS  AND  CUCHULLAIN    10 
III. — FINN  MAcCooL  AND  THE  ANCIENT  FENIANS — 

NIAL  OF  THE   NINE  HOSTAGES      .         .22 
IV. — THE    INTRODUCTION    OF    CHRISTIANITY    BY 

ST.  PATRICK    ...:..     32 
V. — THE  COMING  OF  THE  DANES. — How  MALACHY 
WON  "  THE  COLLAR  OF  GOLD,"  AND  BRIAN 
BORU    BROKE     THE    DANISH    POWER    AT 
CLONTARF 41 

PART  II. 
THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  INVASION. 

VI. — How     DERMOT    MACMURROUGH     BROUGHT 

THE   ENGLISH   OVER       .        .        .         -57 
VII. — THE  BRUGES  IN  IRELAND    .         .        .  -     .     66 
VIII. — KING  ART  MACMURROUGH,  THE  DREAD  OF 

THE  PALE       .         .      -  .        .         .         -75 

PART  III. 
THE  GERALDINES. 

IX. — SILKEN  THOMAS        .        .        .        .        -85 
X. — SHANE  THE  PROUD     ,;/       .         .         .         -93 
XI. — GRANUA  UAILE. — GLENMALURE. — THE  FALL 

OF  THE  GERALDINES       .        .        .        -99 


CONTENTS. 

PART  IV. 

THE  TWO  HUGHS. 
CHAP.  PAGE 

XII. — THE  KIDNAPPING  OF  RED  HUGH  O'DOXNELL  109 
XIII. — CLONTIBRET  AND  THE  YELLOW  FORD  .  .115 
XIV. — KINSALE. — THE  DEFENCE  OF  DUNBOY. — 

O'SULUVAN'S    FAMOUS    RETREAT        .  .123 

PART  V. 
THE  CONFEDERATE  WAR. 

XV. — How  OWEN  ROE  O'NEILL  GAVE  ms  SWORD 
TO  HIS  SIRELAND  ;  AND  HIS  GREAT  VICTORY 

AT    BENBURB 133 

XVI. — CROMWELL  IN  IRELAND. — His  REPULSE  AT 

CLONMEL        .         .         .         .         .         .  144 

PART  VI. 
FOR  JAMES  OR  WILLIAM  ? 

XVII. — THE  DEFENCE  OF  DERRY    .         .         .         .  155 
XVIII. — THE  BOYNE  WATER. — SARSFIELD'S  RIDE.— 

THE  WOMEN  OF  LIMERICK      .         .         .164 
XIX. — HOW  THEY  HELD  THE  BRIDGE  AT  ATHLONE. 

— AUGHRIM     THE  TREATY  OF  LIMERICK     .  173 

PART  VII. 
THE  IRISH  BRIGADE. 

XX.—- SARSFIELD'S  DEATH. — How  THE  IRISH  SAVED 

CREMONA        .        .        .        .        .        .  183 

XXI. — LACY  AND  WOGAN. — THE  CROWNING  VICTORY 

OF   FONTENOY. — COUNT   LALLY  .  .190 


CONTENTS.  XI 

PART  VIII. 

THE  DAYS  OF  GRATTAN. 
CHAP.  PAGE 

XXII. — THUROT'S  RAID. — THE  IRISH  VOLUNTEERS.— 

GRATTAN  AND  FLOOD      ....  199 
XXIII. — WOLFE  TONE  AND  THE  UNITED  IRISHMEN. — 
THE  FRENCH  INVASION  OF  1796. — "  REMEM- 
BER ORR." 206 

XXIV. — THE  CAPTURE  OF  LORD  EDWARD. — "NINETY- 
EIGHT." — WEXFORD   RISES      .        .        -215 
XXV. — PEASANT   VICTORIES.  —  Ross.  —  ARKLOW.  — 

VINEGAR  HILL. — BALLYELLIS   .        .        .  223 
XXVI. — HUMBERT'S  INVASION. — THE  FATE  OF  TONE. 

— HOLT  AND  DWYER   .....  235 

XXVII. — How  THE  "  UNION  "  WAS  PASSED     .         .  244 

XXVIII. — ROBERT    EMMET 252 

PART  IX. 
MORAL  OR  PHYSICAL  FORCE  ? 

XXIX. — DANIEL  O'CONNELL,  THE  LIBERATOR    .         .  263 
XXX. — THE  YOUNG  IRELANDERS    ....  272 

XXXI. — JAMES  STEPHENS  AND  THE  FENIAN  MOVE- 
MENT     .......  279 

XXXII. — THE  RISING  OF  THE  STH  OF  MARCH,  '67     .  284 
XXXIII. — THE   MANCHESTER   RESCUE       .        .        .  292 

PART  X. 
HOME  RULE. 

XXXIV. — THE  HOME  RULE  AGITATION. — THE  PHOENIX 

PARK  TRAGEDY      .....  303 

XXXV. — PARNELL'S  DRAMATIC  TRIUMPH  AND  FALL  .  314 

XXXVI. — IN  SIGHT  OF  HOME  RULE    ....  324 

XXXVII. — HOME  RULE  ON  THE  CARPET     .        .        .331 


PART    I. 
THE  GOLDEN  AGE  OF  ANCIENT  ERIN. 

Let  Erin  remember  the  days  of  old, 

Ere    her    faithless    sons   betrayed  her, 
When    Malachy    wore    the    collar    of    gold, 

Which    he    won   from    the    proud    invader, 
When  her  kings  with  standards  of  green  unfurled, 

Led  the  Red  Branch  knights  to  danger, 
Ere  the  emerald  gem  of  the  western  world 

Was  set  in  the  crown  of  a  stranger. 

THOMAS  MOORE. 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  IRISH  HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  COMING  OF  THE  Ml^ESIANS  TO  "  THE  ISI<E 
OF  DESTINY." — QUEEN  MACHA  "  OF  THE  GOLDEN 
HAIR." — KING  EOCHY  "  THE  SIGHER,"  AND  THE 
PARTITION  OF  J.NNIS-FAII,  INTO  FIVE  KINGDOMS. 

Ireland,  the  land  of  Eire,  called  also  by  the  ancients 
Inis  fail  or  the  "  isle  of  destiny,"  can  claim,  perhaps 
better  than  any  other  country,  to  have  been,  from  the 
earliest  times,  a  land  of  romance. 

In  the  far-back  mythical  ages,  we  see  it  emerging 
from  the  mists  of  the  morning  of  history  as  "  the 
Promised  Isle  "  of  the  Milesians,  the  martial  race  who 
came  from  Spain,  though  they  were  not  Spaniards. 
The  Milesians  were  a  Scythian  people,  moving  ever 
westward,  "  in  the  track  of  the  setting  sun,"  seeking, 
according  to  tradition,  an  island  promised  them  as 
the  descendants  of  Gadhele,  or  Gadelihs,  on  account  of 
whom  they  were  also  known  as  Gadheles,  or  Gaels. 

It  is  said  that  it  was  on  the  i7th  of  May,  1029 
B.C.,  they  thus  first  sighted  Ireland  ;  and  what  finer 
picture  can  a  historian,  dealing  with  the  romantic  side 
of  Irish  history,  open  with  than  such  a  scene  as  this  ? 
The  Milesians,  so  called  from  Milidh,  or  Milesius, 


4  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

their  king,  lay  off  Wexford  Harbour  in  thirty  ships. 
Aboard  each  ship  were  thirty  warriors,  with  their  wives, 
children  and  dependents.  Milidh,  their  patriarch- 
monarch,  was  dead,  but  his  wife,  the  aged  Queen- 
Mother,  Scota,  was  there,  with  her  eight  stalwart  sons. 
Possibly  the  same  poetic  fancy  was  in  their  hearts  as 
John  I,ocke,  the  gifted  Irish  poet  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  voiced  in  his  beautiful  poem  "  Dawn  on  the 
Irish  Coast  "  :— 

Oh,  manam  le  Dia  !   but  there  it  is, 

The  dawn  on  the  hills  of  Ireland  ! 
God's  angels  lifting  the  night's  black  veil 

From  the  fair  sweet  face  of  my  sireland. 
Oh,  Ireland,  isn't  it  grand  you  look, 

Like  a  bride  in  her  rich  adorning  ? 
And  with  all  the  pent-up  love  of  my  heart, 

I  bid  you  the  top  of  the  morning. 

These  Milesian  invaders  guarded  in  their  midst 
a  Sacred  Banner,  symbolising  to  them  both  their 
origin  and  their  mission,  the  promise  given  to  their 
race, — a  flag  on  which  was  represented  a  dead  serpent 
and  the  rod  of  Moses,  for,  so  the  legend  runs,  their 
ancestor,  Gadelius,  was  bitten  while  a  child  by  a 
serpent  and  miraculously  cured  by  Moses  in  return  for 
the  kindness  of  his  countrymen  to  the  persecuted 
Israelites.  Moses,  the  legend  adds,  also  prophesied 
or  promised  that  they  should  inhabit  a  country  "  in 
which  no  venomous  reptile  could  live,  an  island  they 
should  seek  and  find  in  the  track  of  the  setting 
sun." 

Now  a  people  called  Danaans,  or  the  Tuatha  de 
Danaan,  were  in  possession  of  Ireland  at  the  time. 


THE   COMING   OF   THE        MILESIANS.  5 

They  had  defeated  and  driven  the  Firbolgs,  earlier 
colonists  again,  into  the  west  parts.  The  Danaans 
are  supposed  to  have  been  Celts  or  Belgae  ;  the 
Firbolgs  are  generally  believed  to  have  come  from 
Greece.  Preceding  the  Firbolgs,  Ireland  is  said  to 
have  been  colonised  by  the  Nemedians,  a  Scythian 
people  like  the  Milesians  ;  and  before  them  again  by 
the  Partholans,  a  Grecian  race  allied  to  the  Firbolgs. 
Thomas  Moore,  in  one  of  his  "  Melodies,"  thus 
describes  the  coming  of  the  Milesians  : 

"  They  came  from  a  land  beyond  the  sea, 

And  now  o'er  the  western  main, 
Set  sail  in  their  good  ships,  gallantly, 

From  the  sunny  land  of  Spain. 
'  Oh,  where's  the  Isle  we've  seen  in  dreams. 

Our  destin'd  home  or  grave  ?  ' 
Thus  sang  they  as,  by  the  morning's  beams, 

They  swept  the  Atlantic  wave. 

And  lo,  where  afar  o'er  ocean  shines 

A  sparkle  of  radiant  green. 
As  though  in  that  deep  lay  emerald  mines, 

Whose  light  through  the  wave  was  seen, 
'  'Tis  Innisfail — 'tis  Innisfail !  ' 

Rings  o'er  the  echoing  sea  ; 
While,  bending  to  heaven,  the  warriors  hail 

That  home  of  the  brave  and  free. 

Then  turned  they  unto  the  Eastern  wave, 

Where  now  their  Day-God's  eye 
A  look  of  such  sunny  omen  gave 

As  lighted  up  sea  and  sky. 
Nor  frown  was  seen  through  sky  or  sea, 

Nor  tear  o'er  leaf  or  sod, 
When  first  on  their  Isle  of  Destiny 

Our  great  forefathers  trod." 


6  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Innisfail,  the  Isle  of  Destiny,  was  reached,  and  the 
Milesians  hastened  to  effect  a  landing.  But  we  are 
told  that  a  great  mist  forthwith  came  on,  hiding  the 
land,  and  they  attributed  this  to  the  incantations  of 
the  Danaans,  who  were  supposed  to  be  great  necro- 
mancers. Then  followed  a  tremendous  hurricane, 
scattering  the  fleet ;  so  it  would  seem  that  even  in 
those  early  days  Irish  winds  objected  to  aliens  landing 
on  Irish  soil. 

No  less  than  five  of  the  eight  sons  of  Milidh  perished 
in  the  storm,  together  with  many  lesser  chiefs  and 
warriors.  However,  the  survivors  landed,  some  near 
Drogheda,  others  in  Kerry  ;  and  like  men  who  meant 
business,  they  promptly  burned  their  ships  to  destroy 
all  thoughts  of  retreat  or  flight.  In  the  fighting  that 
ensued,  the  Danaans  were  signally  defeated,  but  with 
the  loss  to  the  Milesians  of  Scota,  their  aged  Queen- 
Mother,  who  died  as  she  had  lived,  a  warrior-queen, 
in  a  great  battle  near  Tralee.  On  the  Danaan  side 
fell  three  princes,  who  were  brothers  and  married  to 
three  sisters.  The  names  of  these  three  princesses, 
Eire,  Banba  or  Banva,  and  Fiola,  are  often  used  to 
signify  Ireland.  These  three  queens  fell  by  each 
other's  hands  on  hearing  of  the  disastrous  result  of 
the  battle. 

From  the  name  of  their  great  queen,  Scota,  the 
Milesians  were  also  called  Scots.  They  afterwards 
colonised  Alba  (Scotland),  subduing  the  Picts,  and 
hence  the  name  of  Scotland. 

As  A.  M.  Sullivan  in  his  "  Story  of  Ireland  "  says, 
"  the  queens  of  ancient  Ireland  figure  prominently 
in  our  history."  And  so,  perhaps,  Erin  is  well  repre- 


THE   COMING   OF   THE        MILESIANS.  •     5 

Thay  had  defeated  and  driven  the  Firbolgs,  earlier 
colonists  again,  into  the  west  parts.  The  Danaans 
are  supposed  to  have  been  Celts  or  Belgae ;  the 
Firbolgs  are  generally  believed  to  have  come  from 
Greece.  Preceding  the  Firbolgs,  Ireland  is  said  to 
have  been  colonised  by  the  Nemedians,  a  Scythian 
people  like  the  Milesians  ;  and  before  them  again  by 
the  Partholans,  a  Grecian  race  allied  to  the  Firbolgs. 
Thomas  Moore,  in  one  of  his  "  Melodies,"  thus 
describes  the  coming  of  the  Milesians  : 

"  They  came  from  a  land  beyond  the  sea, 

And  now  o'er  the  western  main 
Set  sail  in  their  good  ships,  gallantly, 
From  the  sunny  land  of  Spain. 
'  Oh,  where's  the  Isle  we've  seen  in  dreams, 

Our  destin'd  home  or  grave  ?  ' 
Thus  sang  they  as,  by  the  morning's  beams, 

They  swept  the  Atlantic  wave. 

And  lo,   where  afar  o'er  ocean  shines 

A  sparkle  of  radiant  green, 
As  though  in  that  deep  lay  emerald  mines 

Whose  light  through  the  wave  was  seen, 
'  Tis  Innisfail — 'tis  Innisfail !  ' 

Rings  o'er  the  echoing  sea ; 
While,  bending  to  heaven,  the  warriors  hail 

That  home  of  the  brave  and  free. 

Then  turned  they  unto  the  Eastern  wave 

Where  now  their  Day-God's  eye 
A  look  of  sach  sunny  omen  gave 

As  lighted  up  sea  and  sky. 
Nor  frown  was  seen  through  sky  or  sea, 

Nor  tear  o'er  leaf  or  sod, 
When  first  on  their  Isle  of  Destiny 

Our  great  forefathers  trod." 


8  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

He  was  a  noble-looking  man,  with  dark  hair,  and 
when  he  was  led  captive  before  the  queen,  who  had 
never  seen  him  before,  she  formed  a  deep  attachment 
for  him.  Refusing  to  put  him  to  death  as  counselled 
by  her  officers,  she  bade  him  and  his  brothers  and  their 
retainers  build  her  a  palace  near  Armagh.  When  they 
had  done  so,  she  named  it  E mania,  and  took  up  her 
residence  there,  and  it  was  the  palace  of  the  Kings 
of  Ulster  for  six  centuries.  Its  site  is  marked  to-day 
by  the  Navan  "  fort  "  or  "  ring,"  a  rath  or  barrow 
some  twelve  acres  in  extent. 

Queen  Macha  now  offered  Cimbaeth  his  liberty  and 
a  princedom  elsewhere  ;  but  he  replied  that  he  pre- 
ferred to  remain  and  be  her  slave  for  all  time,  and, 
kneeling  at  her  feet,  he  plainly  showed  her  that  her 
regard  was  reciprocated.  This  royal  romance  had  a 
fitting  termination.  Macha  thereupon  offered  her 
willing  knight  her  hand  and  throne,  and  they  shared 
the  throne  of  Ireland  until  death  parted  them,  ruling 
the  country  well  and  bringing  great  prosperity  to  it. 
They  founded  near  Emania  "  a  regal  city  containing 
many  thousands  of  inhabitants,"  viz.,  Armagh,  i.e.,  Ard- 
Macha  or  Macha's  height. 

We  now  come  to  him  who  has  been  variously  styled 
"  The  Irish  Achilles,"  and  "  The  Greatest  Champion  of 
the  Scottish  (i.e.,  Irish)  race,"  the  "  incomparable " 
Cuchullain.  He  stands  forth  so  prominently  in  the 
annals  of  the  Heroic  Age  of  Erin,  that  the  period  is 
often  denoted  as  the  Cuchullain  cycle,  and  innumerable 
have  been  the  books,  essays  and  poems  written  about 
him.  Needless  to  say,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  legend- 
ary, as  well  as  historic,  lore  connected  with  him. 


THE   COMING   OF   THE        MILESIANS.  9 

The  soldier  Milesian  race  lived  only  for  the  battle- 
field, the  chase,  and  the  banqueting-hall.  Furiously 
into  the  serried  ranks  of  the  enemy,  the  Milesian 
chieftain  rushed  in  his  war-chariot,  standing  erect  by 
the  charioteer,  driving  at  top  speed,  and  right  and 
left  he  wreaked  death  and  havoc  with  his  javelins  and 
spear. 

By  King  Eochy  "  the  Signer,"  so  called  because  of  his 
continually  lamenting  the  loss  of  his  sons  in  a  battle  at 
Drumcree,  some  time  before  the  Cuchullain  period,  the 
country  had  most  unfortunately  been  divided  into  five 
parts.  Over  each  of  these  Eochy  appointed  a  sub-king, 
styling  himself  the  Ard-Righ,  or  High-King.  These 
five  kingdoms  were  Ulidia  (Ulster),  Lagenia  (Leinster), 
Conact  (Connaught),  Thomond  or  North  Mononia 
(Munster — Clare  more  particularly)  ;  and  Desmond  or 
South  Munster. 

Eochy  gave  his  daughter  Mave  or  Mab  in  marriage 
to  the  sub-king  of  Connaughf,  building  her  a  palace  at 
Cruachan  or  Rathcroghan.  This  Queen  Mave  is  another 
of  Ireland's  famous  warrior-queens.  On  her  husband's 
death  she  reigned  alone  for  ten  years. 


10  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  STONE  OF  DESTINY. — THE  LEGEND  OF  THE 
RED  HAND  OF  ULSTER. — THE  RED  BRANCH 
KNIGHTS  AND  CUCHULLAIN,  THE  "  IRISH 
ACHILLES." — KING  CONNOR  MACNESSA  AND  THE 
BRAIN-BALL. 

The  Tuatha  de  Danaans  are  said  to  have  brought 
to  Ireland  the  Lia  Fail,  or  Stone  of  Destiny,  also 
called  "  Jacob's  Stone."  It  was  a  stone  fabulously 
reputed  to  be  that  on  which  Jacob  rested  his  head  at 
L,uza.  It  was  used  as  the  coronation  stone  of  the 
supreme  kings  of  Ireland  in  these  early  Druidic  days. 
For  some  reason,  about  the  beginning  of  Christianity, 
it  was  removed  to  Scotland.  Thenceforward  it  became 
the  stone  on  which  Scottish  Kings  were  crowned,  and 
was  kept  for  that  purpose  at  Scone  in  Perthshire. 

Until  the  dawn  of  Christianity  it  was  believed  to 
have  extraordinary  virtues,  and  in  Scotland,  for  long 
after,  the  superstition  attached  to  it  that  "  wherever 
the  stone  should  be  found,  some  one  of  the  race 
should  reign."  Edward  I.  of  England,  determined  that 
he  and  his  successors  should  rule  in  Scotland,  and  for 
that  matter,  in  all  Great  Britain,  in  1300,  having 
temporarily  crushed  the  Scots,  carried  off  this  stone 


THE   STONE   OF   DESTINY.  II 

to  Westminister,  where  it  stiil  remains,  inclosed  in 
the  coronation  chair  of  the  Kings  of  England. 

Although  the  Milesians  recognised  one  supreme  king, 
they  were  split  up  into  clans,  and  the  clans  again 
into  septs,  or  smaller  sections,  the  natural  outcome 
of  the  family  instinct,  and  a  condition  to  be  found 
among  all  primitive  peoples.  That  the  clan  system 
was  not  earlier  broken  up  is  generally  supposed  to 
have  been  the  cause  of  a  great  deal  of  the  mis- 
fortunes of  both  Ireland  and  Scotland.  But  this  is 
somewhat  of  a  moot  point.  .Certainly  it  resulted 
in  endless  petty  jealousies  and  bitter  feuds,  fatal 
disunion  and  treachery,  even  in  the  face  of  the 
common  enemy.  So,  too,  did  the  partition  of  Innisfail 
into  five  kingdoms. 

A  romantic  legend,  handed  down  to  us  of  the  first 
of  the  great  clan  O'Neill,  accounts  for  the  famous 
armorial  bearing  of  the  Red  Hand  of  Ulster.  When 
the  Milesian  chiefs  were  exploring  and  dividing  among 
themselves  the  subjugated  "  Isle  of  Destiny,"  "  in 
order  to  quicken  the  emulation  between  the  captains, 
the  leader  proclaimed,"  as  they  approached  the  shores 
of  Ulster,  "  Whosoever  shall  first  touch  the  land  yonder, 
to  him  shall  all  the  adjacent  land  be  given."  It  is 
also  alleged  that  the  king  promised  his  daughter's 
hand  as  a  further  inducement,  a  very  likely  thing  in 
those  days.  Then  did  the  young  Chief  of  the  House 
of  Nial  or  Neill,  who  loved  the  maiden  and  saw  a  rival's 
boat  passing  his  in  the  race,  sever  at  one  blow  with 
his  trusty  sword  or  axe  his  right  hand  at  the  wrist.  He 
caught  the  bleeding  member  as  it  fell  on  the  deck, 
and,  with  all  the  power  of  his  strong  left  arm,  flung  it 


12  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

ashore,  on  to  the  beach,  ahead  of  the  straining  prow  of 
his  rival.  He  had  touched  the  land  first,  and  Ulster 
became  his  patrimony  and  the  royal  maid  his  wife. 

The  '*  Sunburst  "  was  the  national  flag  of  the  Irish 
after  the  coming  of  the  Milesians,  possibly  adopted  by 
them  in  commemoration  of  the  first  dawn  they  saw 
shining  upon  their  Isle  of  Destiny,  and  the  Bloody  or 
Red  Hand  became  the  cognizance  of  the  royal  house 
of  Ulidia  or  Ulster. 

We  have  come  to  the  period  immediately  preceding 
the  time  of  our  Saviour,  that  known  in  Ireland,  on 
account  of  its  great  champion,  as  already  stated,  as 
the  Cuchullain  era.  Connor  MacNessa  was  king  of 
Ulidia  or  Ulster,  and  Eochy  the  Tenth  was  High- King 
at  Tara.  MacNessa  meant  son  of  Nessa,  Nessa  being 
Connor's  mother  not  his  father.  She  was  from  all 
accounts,  a  scheming  woman  who  contrived  to 
persuade  her  second  husband  the  rightful  king,  Fergus 
MacRoigh,  to  give  up  his  throne  to  her  son,  on 
condition  that  she  married  him.  Connor,  however, 
was  one  of  the  best  kings  that  ever  ruled  in  Ireland, 
and  may  be  likened  in  every  way  to  King  Arthur  of 
British  fame. 

He  founded  an  order  of  knighthood  that  may 
be  compared  to  that  of  King  Arthur's  Round  Table. 
This  was  the  famous  order  of  the  Knights  of  the  Red 
Branch.  Most  children,  on  first  hearing  of  the  Red 
Branch  knights  of  these  early  days  of  Ireland — 

"  When  her  kings,  with  standards  of  green  unfurled, 
Led  the  Red  Branch  knights  to  danger," — 

imagine  that  they  were  so  called  because  they  wore 
red  plumes  like  branches  or  boughs  of  trees  in 


THE  STONE  OF  DESTINY.  13 

their  helmets.  Not  so,  however.  The  word  "  red  " 
in  this  case  meant  "  royal,"  the  "  Royal  Branch," 
for  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the  order 
were  descended  from  the  founder  of  the  clan  Roe,  Roe 
or  Ruagh,  meaning  simply  Red. 

The  most  famous  of  these  Red  Branch  knights  were, 
first  and  foremost  the  hero,  Cuchullain ;  then  I^aeg 
MacRian  (his  charioteer),  Conall  Cearnach,  Eoghan 
or  Eugene  MacDurtacht,  Cormac  Colingas,  Laeghaire 
Buadach,  Celtchar  MacUithir,  and  the  three  sons  of 
Usna — Naisi,  Anli  and  Ardan. 

King  Connor  lodged  his  gallant  champions  in  one 
of  three  great  palaces  that  formed  his  court  at 
Emania.  These  three  palaces  were,  first,  his  own,  or 
the  Royal  Dun  or  Residence ;  then  the  "  Speckled 
Court,"  and  the  "  Red  Branch."  The  "  Speckled 
Court  "  was  so  called  from  the  varied  colour  of  the 
arms  of  the  warriors  stored  therein.  Some  authorities, 
however  allege  that  the  designation  "  Red  Branch " 
was  assumed  from  the  heads  and  other  gory 
memorials  of  their  enemies  that  were  kept  in  their 
palace,  styled  Craobh  Derg,  or  Red  Court. 

We  are  told  that  King  Connor's  own  private  palace 
contained  150  rooms,  and  was  constructed  of  red  yew 
wood  and  bordered  with  copper,  his  own  apartment 
having  its  walls  faced  with  bronze  and  silver,  with  birds 
on  these  metals,  their  heads  set  with  shining  carbuncles. 
Thirty  warriors  might  have  dined  together  in  the  royal 
chamber. 

The  nam2  Cuchullain  was  only  a  sobriquet.  The 
warrior's  birth-name  was  Setanta.  He  was  King  Con- 
nor's sister's  son,  and  born  on  the  rath  of  Dun  Dealgan, 


14  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

or,  as  it  is  known  to-day,  Castletown  Mount,  outside 
Dundalk  (the  anglicised  form  of  Dundealgan.  Dealgan 
was  a  Firbolg  chief).  It  was  here  that  Edward  Bruce 
was  crowned  King  of  Ireland  in  A.D.  1316.  Our  hero 
is  often  referred  to  as  Cuchullain  of  Muirtheimhne, 
which  was  his  patrimony,  and  comprised  the  county 
of  Ivouth.  From  his  earliest  childhood  Setanta,  or 
Cuchullain,  displayed  a  love  of  arms  and  warlike 
amusements.  While  yet  a  boy  he  ran  away  from  his 
home  and  made  his  way  to  Emania,  alone  and 
unattended.  He  fell  foul  of  a  group  of  boys  outside 
the  royal  palace,  and,  proclaiming  his  identity,  was 
laughed  to  scorn,  whereupon  he  dashed  among  the 
scoffers,  knocking  them  down  right  and  left. 

"  And  the  war-steeds  of  the  Ultonians  (Ulidians) 
neighed  loudly  in  their  stables,  and  from  the  armoury 
of  the  Red  Branch  rose  a  clangour  of  brass.  .  .  . 
the  singing  of  swords,  long  silent,  and  the  brazen 
thunder  of  the  revolution  of  wheels."  The  royal  shield 
hanging  on  the  wall,  so  the  story  goes,  gave  forth 
its  usual  moaning  sound  whenever  its  owner  was  in 
danger,  whence  it  was  known  as  "  Ocean,"  and  another 
shield,  known  as  "  the  Gate  of  Battle,"  belonging  to 
the  champion  Celtchar  MacUithir,  boomed  forth.  Out 
rushed  all  within  the  three  mansions  ;  and  the  druids 
foretold  "  that  a  warrior  had  arisen  greater  than  had 
yet  been  seen  in  Erin." 

Meanwhile,  a  boy  named  I,aeg  MacRian,  son  of  the 
petty  king  or  chief  of  Gavra,  had  taken  Setanta's  part, 
and  helped  him  against  the  others.  The  two  lads 
became  fast  friends,  and  Laeg  afterwards  was  the  hero's 
charioteer  and  life-long  companion.  The  boys  Setanta 


THE  STONE  OF  DESTINY.  15 

had  fallen  foul  of  belonged  to  the  military  school  of 
the  Red  Branch  knights,  founded  by  King  Connor. 
Setanta  was  now  received  into  the  school  and  became 
the  protege  of  King  Connor. 

One  day,  shortly  after,  the  King  and  his  retinue 
were  visiting  at  the  dun  or  mansion  of  the  great 
armourer  of  the  Ultonians,  Chullain  or  Cullen  by  name. 
He  lived  on  the  summit  or  slope  of  Slieve  Gullion, 
which  was  named  after  him.  "  There  was  never  in 
Erin  a  better  smith  than  he."  "It  was  he  who  made 
the  armour  and  the  shields,  the  swords  and  spears  and 
war-chariots  of  the  Ultonian  or  Ulidian  warriors."  In 
the  night  when  all  in  the  dun  or  mansion  had  retired, 
after  the  banquet  to  which  Chullain  had  entertained 
them  Setanta,  who  had  been  left  behind,  arrived,  and 
was  attacked  by  the  great  ban-dog  which  guarded 
the  premises.  Setanta  killed  the  dog,  and  Chullain  was 
so  distressed  over  its  loss  that  the  young  champion 
elected  to  perform  the  services  of  a  watchdog  for  him 
in  reparation. 

Thenceforward  he  was  no  longer  known  by  the 
name  of  Setanta,  but  by  the  sobriquet  of  Cu  Chullain 
or  Chullain's  Hound. 

Cuchullain  was  now  formally  initiated  into  the  great 
"  Red  Branch  "  order  of  knighthood  ;  and  we  see  him 
next  in  his  war-chariot,  driven  by  his  friend  L,aeg  and 
drawn  by  his  two  renowned  steeds,  "  I^iath  Macha  " 
and  "  Black  Shanglan,"  rushing  to  do  battle  against 
the  three  sons  of  Nectain,  sworn  foes  of  the  Ultonians. 
He  killed  them  one  after  the  other  in  single  combat. 

Our  hero  fell  in  love  with  the  beautiful  and  accom- 
plished lady  Eimer,  daughter  of  Feargal,  a  nobleman 


1 6  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

residing  at  Lusk  in  County  Dublin.  The  lady's  father 
objected  to  the  match,  in  accordance  with  the  unwritten 
canon  of  true  romance.  He  proceeded  to  Emania,  and 
strategically  aroused  the  curiosity  of  certain  of  the  Red 
Branch  knights,  and  particularly  Cuchullain,  to  see  the 
great  military  academy  of  Donal  at  Scatha  or  Skye, 
one  of  the  Scottish  isles.  Cuchullain  went  to  Scatha, 
but  before  doing  so  had  "  a  secret  interview  with  his 
lady-love,  and  they  pledged  mutual  troth  and  con- 
stancy." In  Scatha  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
young  warrior  and  fellow-pupil,  Ferdia,  a  Firbolg 
hailing  from  Connaught,  which  province  indeed  the 
Firbolgs  held  possession  of  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years. 

On  his  return  home,  Feargal  refused  to  let  him  see 
Eimer,  and  kept  her  close  prisoner.  Our  hero  induced 
her  to  elope  with  him.  He  was  hotly  pursued,  and 
had  to  turn  his  chariot  at  every  ford  from  Lusk  to 
Muirtheimhne  to  give  battle.  But  he  and  the  fair 
Eimer,  and  her  maid  and  Laeg  eventually  reached  his 
own  castle  of  Dun  Dealgan  safely. 

His  next  exploit  forms  the  subject  of  the  great  epic 
of  ancient  Irish  literature.  This  is  the  historic  Tain 
Bo  Chuailgne  or  "  Cattle  Raid  of  Cooley."  Cooley  is 
the  great  promontory  or  tongue  of  land  lying  between 
Dundalk  and  Newry.  It  was  part  of  Cuchullain's 
patrimony. 

Queen  Mave,  of  Connaught,  the  daughter  of  Eochy 
the  Signer,  had  married  King  Connor  MacNessa  of 
Ulster  ;  but  they  had  not  got  on  well  together  and 
had  separated,  with  bitter  mutual  recriminations. 
Connor  was  her  first  husband ;  then,  as  we  have 


THE  STONE  OF  DESTINY.  I? 

seen,  she  was  espoused  to  the  sub-king  of  Connaught, 
and  now,  on  his  death,  she  married  a  Leinster  Prince 
named  Ailill,  by  whom  she  had  many  sons  and  one 
daughter,  Findabar  or  "  the  Fairbrowed." 

Mave  and  her  husband  had  a  dispute  as  to  a  bull,  a 
fine  animal  known  as  "  the  White-horned."  Ailill 
would  have  it  that  there  was  not  its  equal  in  the  land, 
and  Mave  said  there  was.  He  challenged  her  to  find 
one,  and  she  took  up  the  challenge,  consulting  her 
messengers  or  couriers  to  tell  her  of  one.  MacRath, 
her  chief  courier,  said  there  was  a  finer  bull  in  the 
cantred  of  Cooley  in  Ulster,  and  its  name  was 
Don  Chuailgne,  or  Brown  Bull.  One  named  Dare 
owned  the  bull,  and  he  refused  Queen  Mave's  offer 
to  buy  it.  The  warrior  queen  determined  to  take 
it  by  force,  and  she  raised  an  army  and  invaded 
Ulster. 

The  Ulster  chiefs  were,  at  the  time,  all  laid  prostrate 
with  a  periodical  debility,  said  to  be  the  result  of  a 
curse  pronounced  upon  them.  Cuchullain,  the  fable 
says,  was  free  of  the  curse.  Alone  he  hung  "  upon 
the  invaders'  flank,  a  fiery  scourge,"  and  finally  he 
challenged  all  their  leading  champions  to  meet  him  in 
single  combat.  Then  ensued  the  famous  "  Fight 
at  the  Ford,"  of  Ardee,  long  celebrated  by  the  bards. 
Cuchullain  in  succession  fought  ninety  Connaught 
heroes,  one  a  day,  laying  them  all  low.  The  ninety- 
first  to  face  him  was  his  former  friend  and  fellow-pupil 
in  the  Isle  of  Scatha,  Ferdia. 

Cuchullain  at  first  refused  to  fight  with  him,  but 
at  length  was  forced  to  do  so.  After  three  days' 
fighting  Ferdia  was  killed.  Ferdia  fought  for  love  of 


l8  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Findabar,  the  Fairbrowed,  whose  hand  Queen  Mave 
had  promised  him. 

The  Queen  now  ended  the  battle  of  single  combat, 
marched  on,  ravaged  Ulster,  up  to  the  gates  of  Emania, 
swept  Cooley,  seized  the  Brown  Bull,  and  returned 
homeward  triumphant.  But  the  Red  Branch  knights 
recovered  from  their  prostration,  and,  pursuing  the 
retreating  army,  "  impeded  with  the  spoils  of  war," 
overtook  it  and  defeated  it  in  a  great  battle  at  Clara 
in  County  Westmeath.  King  Connor  MacNessa  then 
led  a  punitive  expedition  against  the  Leinster  septs 
for  having  aided  Queen  Mave ;  and,  at  the  famous 
battle  of  Rosnaree,  Cuchullain,  by  a  valorous  charge  in 
his  war-chariot,  turned  "  rout  into  victory." 

Smarting  under  defeat,  Queen  Mave  again  raised 
a  mighty  army  and  invaded  Ulster,  taking  advantage 
of  the  absence  of  King  Connor  and  the  Red  Branch 
knights  in  another  part  of  the  kingdom.  Emania  was 
taken  and  given  to  the  flames,  and  Connor's  palace  and 
the  Court  of  the  Red  Branch  were  likewise  "  gutted 
with  fire."  With  vengeance  in  their  hearts,  the 
champions  of  Uladh  hurried  back.  Down  upon  the 
serried  ranks  of  the  foe  thundered  the  Red  Branch 
knights,  each  erect  in  his  flying  chariot,  with  spear 
poised  and  broad  shield  covering  his  breast ;  and 
foremost  in  the  battle-front  as  ever  raced  Cuchullain, 
"  the  Hound  of  Uladh,  lord  of  war." 

"  Splendid  o'er  the  plain  he  speeds, 
.     .     .     "  Louder  whirr  his  whirling  wheels." 

With  Laeg,  his  faithful  charioteer  and  friend,  guiding 
and  lashing  the  two  horses,  the  fabled  "  I,iath  Macha  " 
and  "  Black  Shanglan,"  to  faster  and  i aster  speed — 


THE  STONE  OF  DESTINY  1 9 

"  Never  hoofs  like  them  shall  ring, 
Rapid  as  the  winds  of  spring  " — 

he  ploughed  lanes,  "  deep  and  broad,"  through  the 
reeling  ranks  of  the  foe,  strewing  the  plain  wherever 
he  turned  with  dead  and  dying. 

But  lo  !  the  chariot  of  L,ugaidh  MacCuroi,  King 
of  Munster,  swept  up,  not  to  meet  him,  but  to  take 
him  in  the  rear.  A  poisoned  javelin  flew  from 
MacCuroi's  practised  hand,  and  pierced  the  champion 
through  the  chest,  as  he  turned  too  late  to  defend 
himself.  Transfixed,  he  fell  and  rolled  out  of  the 
chariot.  Unbeaten  still,  though  dying,  he  dragged 
himself  to  a  tall  pillar-stone  near  by,  marking  the 
grave  of  a  warrior  slain  in  some  previous  war. 
Holding  to  it,  he  got  upon  his  feet,  determined  to 
die  standing,  as  became  the  Champion  of  Uladh. 
He  bound  himself  to  the  stone  with  his  mantle,  which 
he  tore  in  two  and  passed  about  him  like  a  sash,  and 
thus  he  died.  "  Thus  they  beheld  him,  standing  with 
the  drawn  sword  in  his  hand  and  the  rays  of  the 
setting  sun  bright  on  his  panic-striking  helmet." 

His  "  Leaning  Stone  "  still  stands  at  Ratheddy,  near 
Knockbridge,  outside  Dundalk.  It  has  a  vertical 
crack,  and  the  strata  of  the  stone  on  the  one  side 
of  this  run  at  right  angles  to  those  of  the  other, 
curiously  enough. 

Laeg  MacRian,  his  charioteer  and  friend,  fell  with 
him  on  that  fatal  field,  being  stricken  down 
immediately  afterwards,  hampered,  as  he  was  with 
the  horses,  by  a  second  unerring  javelin  from  the 
same  hand.  But  promptly  their  deaths  were  avenged. 
Another  Red  Branch  hero,  Conall  Cearnach,  tore  up 


20  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

mad  with  rage  at  the  death  of  his  beloved  Chief,  and 
straightway  spitted  the  Munster  monarch  on  his  lance. 

"  Home  they  bore  her  warrior  dead  "  —the  mourning 
knights  of  the  Red  Branch, — and  Eimer,  his  fond 
spouse,  on  seeing  the  dead  body  of  her  lord,  threw 
herself  down  beside  it,  and  there  and  then  died  of 
grief. 

Such  is  the  story  of  Cuchullain,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  is  founded  on  a  good  deal  of  truth,  and 
so  is  entitled  to  a  place  in  a  work  that  claims  to  be 
"  the  Romance  of  Irish  History." 

There  is  one  allegation  against  Connor  MacNessa's 
honour.  Moore  has  dealt  with  it  in  his  "  Lament  for 
the  Children  of  Usna."  The  story  goes  that  Deirdre 
was  a  lovely  maiden,  beloved  by  Connor,  but  she  eloped 
with  a  young  noble  named  Naisi,  a  son  of  Usna. 
To  be  revenged,  Connor  invited  Naisi  and  his  two 
brothers  to  return  to  Emania  from  their  retreat  in 
Alba  (Scotland) ,  and  he  then  slaughtered  them  and  their 
attendants.  A  dreadful  civil  war  followed,  which 
nearly  resulted  in  Connor's  destruction. 

But  doubts  have  been  cast  upon  the  story  of  his 
treachery,  for  in  all  other  respects  he  proved  himself 
a  brave  and  noble  man  ;  and  most  fitting  was  the 
end  which,  according  to  tradition,  befel  him.  The 
pagan  Irish  sometimes  took  the  brains  of  their  slain 
foes,  mixed  them  up  with  lime,  and,  rolling  them  into 
balls,  let  these  harden,  and  kept  them  as  trophies. 
Once  in  a  way  they  used  them  as  missiles  from 
slings.  With  one  of  these  brain-balls  King  Connor 
was  wounded  in  a  battle.  His  physician  warned  him 
that  to  remove  it  from  his  head,  in  which  it  was 


THE  STONE  OF  DESTINY.  21 

"  buried  two-thirds  of  its  depth,"  would  mean  his  instant 
death,  but  said  that  if  it  were  left  where  it  was  he 
might  live  many  years,  provided  always  that  he  did 
not  over-excite  himself.  Years  passed,  when  news 
reached  him,  'tis  said,  of  the  true  God  having  been 
crucified.  Heathen  though  he  was,  King  Connor's 
generous  heart  was  touched. 

"  He  rushed  to  the  woods,  striking  wildly  at  boughs 

that  dropped  down  with  each  blow, 
And  he  cried  :    '  Were  I  'midst  the  vile  rabble,  I'd 

cleave  them  to  earth  even  so, 
With  the  strokes  of  a  high  king  of  Erin,  the  whirls 

of  my  keen- tempered  sword, 
I  would  save  from  their  horrible  fury  that  mild  and 

that  merciful  lyord.' 
His  frame  shook  and  heaved  with  emotion ;    the 

brain-ball  leaped  forth  from  his  head, 
And,  commending  his  soul  to  that  Saviour,  King 

Connor  MacNessa  fell  dead." 


22  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  III. 

MORAN  "  THE  JUST." — THE  BORU  TRIBUTE  — CON  OF 
THE  HUNDRED  BATTLES. — FINN  MACCOOL  AND 
THE  ANCIENT  FENIANS. — NIAL  OF  THE  NINE 
HOSTAGES  AND  HIS  SUBJUGATION  OF  SCOTLAND, 
BRITAIN  AND  GAUL. 

Far  as  the  Roman  soldier  penetrated,  he  never  set  foot 
on  Irish  soil,  and  this  fact  is  often  thought  to  have 
been  a  calamity  rather  than  an  advantage.  Had  the 
Romans  subjugated  Ireland  as  they  did  Britain,  they 
would  have  consolidated  the  Kingdom  and  destroyed 
the  bad  effect  of  the  clan  system.  Britain,  however, 
did  not  benefit  very  much  by  Roman  rule,  and  was  left 
in  a  parlous  condition  at  the  time  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  invasion. 

The  Romans,  however,  were  acquainted  with  the 
inhabitants  of  Krin,  and  Irish  soldiers  fought  the 
conquerors  of  the  world  on  the  continent.  Ireland 
was  known  to  the  Romans  by  various  names :  lerne, 
Juverna,  Hibernia  and  Scotia. 

The  Firbolgs  and  other  subject  races,  classed  under 
the  generic  name  of  Attacotti  by  Latin  historians, 
conspired  after  the  reign  of  Connor  MacNessa  to  rid 
themselves  of  their  Milesian  taskmasters.  It  was  a 
most  carefully  planned  massacre.  All  the  royal  and 


MORAN  "  THE  JUST."  23 

noble  families  of  the  dominant  race  were  invited  to 
a  great  meeting  for  games  and  athletic  exercises  on 
the  plain  of  Knock  Ma,  in  the  county  of  Galway, 
and  at  the  end  of  nine  days  they  were  suddenly  set 
upon  by  a  great  body  of  conspirators,  and  slaughtered 
to  a  man. 

Three  princesses  of  the  royal  line  escaped  to  Alba 
or  Scotland,  and  there  each  bore  a  posthumous  son. 
Cairbre  or  Carbry,  a  Firbolg  chief,  was  placed  upon 
the  throne,  but  during  the  five  years  of  his  reign  the 
country  is  said  to  have  been  visited  with  all  manner 
of  evil :  corn  only  bore  one  grain  to  the  stalk,  the 
cattle  gave  no  milk,  the  fruit  trees  were  blighted  and 
the  rivers  dried  up.  Carbry  died,  and  his  son  Moran, 
surnamed  "  the  Just,"  refused  to  accept  the  crown 
that  had  been  won  by  such  treachery  and  cold-blooded 
slaughter,  and  demanded  that  one  of  the  three  young 
Milesian  princes  be  made  ruler  instead.  The  people 
complied  with  his  wish.  The  three  princes  of  the 
blood  were  sent  for,  returned,  and  one  of  them  was  put 
upon  the  throne,  while  Moran,  the  Just,  was  made 
the  chief  judge  of  the  land ;  and  never  was  the 
nation  so  happy  as  under  this  new  administration. 
The  legend  goes  that  Moran' s  chain  of  office, 
bequeathed  through  the  succeeding  centuries,  "  would 
tighten  around  the  neck  of  the  judge  if  he  were  un- 
justly judging  a  cause." 

King  Tuathal  now  made  Meath  into  a  mensal  pro- 
vince for  the  special  support  of  the  High  King.  He 
formed  the  new  province  of  equal  proportions  of  each 
of  the  other  four  provinces.  The  King  of  I/einster 
having  tricked  him,  Tuathal  imposed  on  that  province 


24  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

the  famous  Boru  or  Borumha  tribute.  This  meant 
"  cow-tribute,"  and  L,einster  had  to  pay  yearly  150  cows, 
and  a  like  number  of  pigs,  pieces  of  cloth,  married 
slaves  and  slave  girls.  Needless  to  say,  such  an  exaction, 
levied  remorselessly  through  succeeding  reigns,  led 
to  terrific  and  endless  civil  war  and  sowed  the 
country  with  blood.  It  was  not  abolished  until 
centuries  had  gone  by. 

Con  of  the  Hundred  Battles,  though  his  name  has 
come  down  to  us  as  a  great  hero,  possibly  on  account 
of  a  mistaken  idea  that  he  was  a  splendid  warrior, 
seems  to  have  been  a  most  unsuccessful  fighter,  and 
by  no  means  worthy  of  his  fame.  The  sub-king  of 
L,einster,  Eoghan  or  Mogh  Nuadat,  the  son  of  the  King 
of  Munster — a  prince  of  the  royal  line  of  Heber — 
proved  himself  a  far  finer  soldier,  defeating  him  in  ten 
successive  battles.  Con  had  to  submit  to  the  humi- 
liation of  surrendering  half  his  kingdom  to  Eoghan  or 
Owen.  The  two  monarchs  agreed  to  divide  Ireland 
equally  between  them,  the  dividing  line  being  a  chain 
of  sand  hills  extending  from  Dublin  to  Galway  Bay,  by 
Clonmacnoise  and  Clonard,  and  called  the  Eiscir  Riada, 
or  Raised  Chariot  Drive.  Con  had  the  northern 
half  and  Eoghan  the  southern,  and  the  two  nations 
were  respectively  known  as  L,eith  Chuinn  or  Leh-Conn, 
and  Leh  Mogha,  Mogha  being  Eoghan's  sobriquet  or 
other  name.  Eoghan,  however,  went  to  war  again 
with  Con,  who  this  time  defeated  and  slew  him  outside 
Tullamore. 

One  thing  alone  would  seem  to  entitle  Con  of  the 
Hundred  Battles  to  the  fame  he  possesses,  and  that  is 
his  apparent  founding  of  the  Fiana  Eiron,  or  Fenians, 


MORAN  "  THE  JUST."  25 

a  militia  or  standing  army.  It  numbered  some  9,000 
men  under  its  great  leader  Finn  MacCumhal  or  Finn 
MacCool,  whose  fame  rivals  that  of  Cuchullain  and 
has  been  as  widely  sung  by  poets  and  bards.  The 
latter-day  word  "  Fenian,"  used  to  signify  the  revolu- 
tionaries of  1865-67,  was  taken  from  this  historic 
legion. 

Much  that  is  apocryphal,  of  course,  has  been  handed 
down  to  us  about  the  Fiana  or  Feni,  but  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  body  existed,  the  same  as  did  the 
Red  Branch  order  of  knighthood  at  an  earlier  period, 
and  their  famous  leader,  Finn  MacCool,  was  a  real 
personage,  and  a  warrior  of  deserved  renown.  The 
members  of  the  legion  were  probably  not  ordinary 
soldiers,  but  men  of  noble  birth,  and  superior  education, 
maintained  by  Con  and  his  successors  in  order  to 
guard  the  territory  and  uphold  the  authority  of  the 
High  King.  They  were,  in  other  words,  his  bodyguard 
or  Household  Guards. 

From  May  to  All  Hallows  they  supported  themselves 
by  hunting,  though  at  all  times  holding  themselves  in 
readiness  to  perform  whatever  duty  the  Ard-Righ  or 
High  King  called  upon  them  to  do,  such  as  putting 
down  public  enemies,  exacting  tributes,  guarding  the 
harbours  and  coasts  from  foreign  invasion,  upholding 
justice,  defending  frontiers,  etc.  During  the  rest  of 
the  year  they  were  quartered  on  the  people.  They 
received  a  certain  fixed  pay  and  were  divided  into 
three  cohorts  or  "  caths,"  each  consisting  of  three 
thousand  men.  Each  "  Cath  "  or  "  battle  "  was 
divided  into  tens  and  multiples  of  ten  under  officers 
of  lesser  or  superior  degree,  as  the  case  might  be.  It 


26  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

is  popularly  supposed  that  they  took  their  name  from 
Finn,  but  he  was  not  their  first  leader.  This  was 
Finn's  father,  who  more  probably  named  his  son  after 
the  legion. 

Certain  codes  of  honour  were  laid  down  for  them, 
much  the  same  as  King  Arthur  might  have  imposed 
upon  his  Knights  of  the  Round  Table.  No  single 
warrior  might  fly  before  less  than  ten  foemen  ;  no 
Fenian  might  offer  violence  or  insult  to  a  woman, 
or  receive  a  dowry  with  his  wife,  but  choose  her  for 
herself  alone.  A  Fenian,  too,  might  not  "  refuse  to 
part  with  anything  he  might  possess." 

The  Order  kept  the  native  wolfdog  for  hunting  pur- 
poses, that  noble  animal  which  is  one  of  the  national 
emblems  of  Erin.  It  is  said  that  "  their  enormous  dogs 
.  .  .  .  when  conveyed  to  Rome,  frightened  the 
Romans.  These  dogs  were  really  very  gentle  and 
affectionate,  though  every  one  of  them  could  pull 
down  a  red  deer  or  the  fierce  wild  bull." 

Some  authorities  assert  that  the  Feni  or  Fians 
had  existed  in  Ireland  long  before  the  time  of  Con  and 
Finn,  that  each  province  had  its  own  separate  body, 
and  that  these  different  legions  were  continually 
warring  against  one  another. 

Goll  "  the  One  -  Eyed,"  son  of  Morna,  or 
MacMorna,  for  instance,  is  said  to  have  commanded 
the  Connaught  Fenians,  and  to  have  slain  Finn's 
father,  Cumhal  or  Cool,  in  a  battle  at  Castleknock. 
Cumhal  was  fighting  against  High-King  Con  then  for 
Eoghan,  the  southern  High-King.  By  the  subsequent 
battle  at  Tullamore,  Con  the  Hundred  Fighter  re- 
covered sway  over  all  Ireland.  Goll  MacMorna,  ac- 


MORAN  "  THE  JUST."  27 

cording  to    tradition,   now  became  Captain-General  of 
the  Fiana. 

Con  perished,  in  the  35th  year  of  his  reign,  at  the 
treacherous  hands  of  Tibraitt  Tireach,  the  King  of 
Ulster's  grandson.  Cormac  MacArt  or  the  son  of  Art, 
Con's  grandson,  succeeding  his  father,  is  said  to 
have  invaded  Scotland  and  reduced  it  to  submission 
He  revised  the  laws  and  ordered  the  ollamhs  to 
correct  the  Psalter  of  Tara.  This  book  has  not  come 
down  to  us  through  the  centuries,  unhappily. 

King  Cormac  bestowed  the  command  of  the  Feni 
upon  Finn,  out  of  respect  for  his  father's  cool  courage 
and  talents,  not  apparently  because  of  any  personal 
prowess  on  Finn's  own  part.  From  all  veracious 
accounts  Finn  appears  to  have  excelled  "  in  wisdom  and 
subtlety,"  but  to  have  been  of  no  great  size  or  strength 
of  body.  The  flag  of  the  Feni  was  the  Gal  Greine,  or 
Sun  Burst,  and  the  Order  wore  their  hair  long  and 
curling,  and  saffron-coloured  tunic  and  trews. 

Finn's  son,  Ossian,  achieved  undying  celebrity  as  a 
poet  as  well  as  a  warrior ;  and  it  is  his  songs  that  have 
transmitted  the  exploits  of  his  father  Finn  and  the 
Feni  to  posterity.  Ossian  "  is  the  great  central  figure 
in  the  literature  of  ancient  Erin  "  (D' Alton).  "Truly," 
says  Standish  O'Grady,  "  a  great  race  were  these  Fians, 
and  their  glory  will  never  die." 

Other  Fians  of  note  were  Oscar  (Finn's  grandson), 
Caelta  MacRonan,  Diarmid,  Ligan  the  "  Swift  of  Foot," 
Goll  MacMorna,  Fergus  "  The  Eloquent,"  bard  and  poet, 
and  Conan  the  boaster  and  coward,  surnamed  the  Bald. 

The  Fians  undoubtedly  helped  Cormac  to  conquer 
Scotland,  and  on  this  occasion  their  strength  was 


28  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

raised  to  seven  Caths  or  21,000  men.  Whether  they  were 
ever  called  upon  to  repel  foreign  invasion  is  doubtful, 
but,  according  to  a  legend,  Finn's  greatest  exploit  was 
in  defending  Ventry  Harbour  against  the  "  Emperor 
of  the  Whole  World,"  possibly  the  Romans. 

Finn  kept  almost  royal  state  in  his  two  duns  or 
moated  palaces,  at  Moyally  in  King's  County  and  the 
Hill  of  Allen,  County  Kildare.  In  Finn's  old  age, 
King  Cormac  bestowed  the  hand  of  one  of  the  royal 
princesses,  the  I/ady  Grainne  or  Grania  upon  him,  but 
Diarmid,  one  of  Finn's  young  officers,  was  beloved  by 
the  lady,  who  thereupon  at  the  marriage-feast  drugged 
all  the  Feni  except  her  lover,  and  then  eloped  with 
him.  Finn  was  very  much  enraged,  but  was  appeased 
by  being  given  another  of  the  King's  daughters, 
Alvie. 

The  "  Four  Masters  "  give  the  date  of  Finn's  death 
as  "  Age  of  Christ,  283,"  and  he  is  said  to  have  been 
killed  by  a  treacherous  fisherman,  who  was  beheaded 
for  the  crime  by  the  warrior-bard  Caelta  MacRonan, 
for  "  all  the  Fians  loved  him  (Finn)  like  a  father." 

Cormac's  son,  Carbry,  disbanded  the  Feni  because 
of  some  alleged  treachery.  They  thereupon  went  over 
in  a  body  to  the  King  of  Munster,  who  invaded  Meath. 
At  a  decisive  battle  at  Gavra  (Gowra),  near  Tara, 
Oscar,  Finn's  grandson  and  the  chief  of  the  Feni,  was 
among  the  slain,  and  King  Carbry,  badly  wounded, 
perished  the  same  evening  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin. 
With  Oscar,  the  Feni  appear  to  have  been  practi- 
cally wiped  out  at  Gavra,  and  we  hear  of  them  no 
more  It  is  alleged  that,  as  they  were  never  called 
upon  to  repel  foreign  invasion,  their  chief  raison  d'etre, 


MORAN  "  THE  JUST."  2Q 

"  they  became  restive,  insolent  and  rebellious,"  and 
so  induced  the  High-King  Carbry's  action  towards 
them.  The  Hill  of  Howth,  outside  Dublin,  is  said  to 
have  been  where  the  Feni  resorted  annually  for 
military  exercises,  and  the  aspirant  for  admission 
into  the  Order  or  legion  had  here  to  pass  some  very 
exacting  tests. 

He  had  to  be  able  to  ward  off  with  a  shield  the 
blunted  javelins  of  nine  warriors  pitted  against  him 
If  he  were  touched  by  even  one  of  the  spears  he  was 
disqualified.  Then,  given  something  of  a  start,  he  had 
to  not  be  overtaken  by  some  of  the  swiftest  runners 
of  the  legion.  Moreover,  he  had  to  pass  an  examination 
in  literature  and  poetry,  though  what  such  acquire- 
ments had  to  do  with  the  making  of  a  soldier  is  a 
question,  unless  they  were  imposed  so  as  to  keep  the 
legion  select  and  confined  to  men  of  superior  education, 
even  in  those  days  when  kings  and  nobles  did  not 
excel  very  much  in  that  direction. 

Other  accounts  of  Finn  represent  him  as  pursuing 
Diarmid  and  Grainne  with  relentless  and  diabolical 
hate,  as  acting  most  treacherously  in  many  instances, 
and  as  having  been  present,  in  the  background,  like 
a  modern  general — out  of  the  way  of  all  harm — at 
the  disastrous  battle  of  Gavra  ;  then  wandering  over 
the  corpse-strewn  field  afterwards  and  finding  the 
dying  Oscar,  finally  dying  himself  a  lonely  death,  with 
Caelta  MacRonan  by  his  bedside,  comforting  his  last 
moments. 

Whichever  may  be  the  true  accounts,  we  prefer 
that  in  which  Finn  forms  the  nobler  figure  and  consider 
it  the  more  likely  to  be  correct,  because  of  his  fame 


30  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

handed  down  to  us  through  all  these  centuries  and 
which  would  never  have  so  rung  down  through  the 
annals  of  time  had  it  been  ignobly  won. 

In  an  old  poem  entitled  "  The  Rage  of  Ossian"  (Buille 
Oisin),  "  in  the  halls  of  Finn  "  at  Allen,  there  are  said 
to  have  been  seen  "  at  each  banquet  ....  a 
thousand  costly  cups  or  goblets  with  rims  of  pure 
gold."  Without  the  main  building  were  twelve  others 
housing  all  the  warriors  of  the  legion  and  "  in  each 
princely  habitation  twelve  fires  constant  flamed,"  and 
round  each  fire  sat  a  hundred  warriors  of  the  Fiana. 

Ireland  may  now  be  said  to  have  reached  the  zenith 
of  her  military  power  and  prestige.  The  High- King 
Crimthan  carried  her  arms,  not  only  into  Scotland  but 
into  England,  and  levied  tribute  from  the  inhabitants 
of  both  these  nations.  His  successor,  Nial,  surnamed 
"  of  the  Nine  Hostages,"  did  the  same  and  also 
invaded  Armorica  (Brittany).  Rome  at  this  time  was 
on  her  last  legs,  tottering  to  her  fall,  as  D'Alton 
says,  and  King  Nial,  joining  forces  with  the  Picts 
of  Scotland,  "  made  Britain  his  tributary  province." 

The  Roman  legions  had  to  be  recalled,  by  the  historic 
"  Groans  of  the  Britons,"  to  expel  him.  He  would  not 
have  had  to  recoil  even  before  the  trained  and  disci- 
plined troops  of  Rome,  only  the  Attacotti  or  Firbolgs 
in  his  ranks,  ever  waiting  their  opportunity  to  strike 
against  their  masters,  turned  traitors  and  went  over  in 
a  body  to  the  Romans. 

Nial  obtained  his  surname  "  Of  the  Nine  Hos- 
tages "  from  the  number  of  hostages  he  took  from  the 
several  provinces  he  subdued.  Into  the  heart  and  fairest 
regions  of  Gaul  (France)  did  King  Nial  penetrate  with 


MORAN  "  THE  JUST.  3! 

his  all-conquering  legions,  opposing  and   defeating  the 
Roman  soldiers  as  well  as  the  Gauls  themselves. 

The  warrior-king,  the  all-conquering  Nial,  perished 
rather  ingloriously,  after  a  reign  of  twenty-seven 
years,  being  assassinated  on  the  banks  of  the  Loire 
in  France  by  one  Eochy,  the  son  of  the  King  of 
Leinster,  whom  he  had  banished  into  exile.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  nephew  Dathi,  who  continued  his 
conquests  in  Gaul  or  France,  and  was  killed  by  light- 
ning while  leading  his  army  through  the  Alps,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  426,  after  another  glorious  reign 
of  twenty-three  years. 


32  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  BY  ST.  PATRICK. 

St.  Patrick  is  said  to  have  been  a  boy  of  sixteen 
when  he  was  captured  by  King  Nial's  warrior-bands. 
Where  he  was  born  is  uncertain,  but  some  authori- 
ties say  that  his  father  was  a  Roman  magistrate 
near  Boulogne  in  Armoric  Gaul,  or  Brittany,  and 
named  Calpurnius.  His  mother's  name  was  Con- 
chessa,  and  she  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  sister 
of  St.  Martin,  Bishop  of  Tours. 

At  this  time  Christianity  had  spread  pretty  well  all 
over  the  continent  and  had  crushed  out  Druidism  in 
Britain  or  Albion.  Some  writers  assert  that  Kirk- 
patrick,  a  few  miles  from  Dumbarton,  in  Scotland,  was 
St.  Patrick's  native  place.  Anyway,  St.  Patrick  or 
Patricius  was  brought  to  Ireland,  one  of  thousands  of 
other  poor  captives,  and  sold  as  a  slave  to  a  sub-chief 
named  Milcho,  who  had  his  residence  near  Ballymena, 
in  County  Antrim. 

Patricius  or  Patrick  tended  cattle  and  pigs  for  his 
master  on  the  slopes  of  Mount  Slievemish,  and 
dragged  out  a  most  miserable  existence  thus — for 
his  owner  was  not  of  the  kindest  disposition — for 
six  long  years,  wearing  the  humblest  garb  and 
eating  of  the  coarsest  food.  Incessantly,  though,  he 


St.  Columkille 


St.  Patrick 


St.   Brendan 


INTRODUCTION  OF   CHRISTIANITY  BY  ST.   PATRICK.      33 

prayed  to  God  for  deliverance  as  well  as  fortitude 
in  his  trials  ;  and,  about  395,  he  contrived  to  escape 
to  the  coast  and  obtain  a  free  passage  on  a  vessel 
lying  at  anchor  there.  The  legend  goes  that  he  was 
visited  by  an  angel  in  his  sleep,  who  told  him  where 
to  find  gold  to  purchase  his  freedom  from  Milcho, 
and  also  instructed  him  to  make  for  a  port  two 
hundred  miles  distant,  where  he  would  find  a  ship 
awaiting  him.  We  can  take  this  story  for  what  it 
is  worth,  but  certainly  it  would  seem  most  likely 
that  he  did  buy  his  freedom  somehow,  as  other- 
wise one  would  imagine  that  Milcho  could  have 
claimed  him  as  an  escaped  slave,  on  his  later  re- 
appearance in  the  country. 

Reaching  Tours,  Patrick  entered  a  monastic  school 
and  studied  for  the  priesthood,  first  under  St.  Martin, 
and  later  under  St.  Germanus,  Bishop  of  Auxerre. 
In  431  he  was  sent  to  Rome,  recommended  to 
Pope  Celestine  I.  by  St.  Germanus,  and  the 
following  year,  being,  it  is  said,  about  forty-five 
years  of  age,  he  was  consecrated  bishop.  Ever 
since  his  advancement  to  the  priesthood  he  had 
cherished  the  grand  idea  of  carrying  the  faith  of 
Christ  into  that  land  where  he  had  lived  as  a  slave, 
and  Pope  Celestine,  approached  by  him  on  the 
matter,  readily  commissioned  him  to  proceed  to  Ireland 
as  its  Apostle.* 

Accordingly  in  that  same  year,  432,  St.  Patrick 
and  some  twenty  companions  set  sail  for  Ireland 

*  Some  authorities  assert  that  St.  Patrick  did  not  receive  a  com- 
mission from  Pope  Celestine,  and  it  is  now  impossible  to  reconcile 
the  contending  statements  as  regards  the  saint's  early  life. 

D 


34  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

and  landed  in  Wicklow,  near  Bray,  at  a  place  subse- 
quently called  Kilmantan,  after  one  of  his  priests. 
The  natives  resented  his  landing  and  he  was 
obliged  to  re-embark,  when  he  sailed  northward 
in  the  hope  of  getting  a  hearing  from  his  old  master, 
Milcho. 

But  Milcho,  too,  would  not  listen  to  him.  How- 
ever, he  went  on  to  Downpatrick,  and  thence  to 
Lecale  or  Magh-Innis  in  Strangford  lyough,  where 
the  chief,  Dichu,  on  hearing  he  had  come  on  an 
errand  of  peace  and  not  war  or  spoil,  invited  him  to 
his  dun  or  moated  palace.  Patrick  preached  the  gospel 
to  Dichu  and  all  his  household  with  the  result 
that  they  were  instructed  in  the  new  faith,  and  all 
consented  to  be  baptised.  Furthermore,  Dichu  gave 
St.  Patrick  a  barn  in  which  to  say  Mass ;  and  the 
church,  subsequently  built  on  the  site  of  this  barn, 
was  called  "  Saul,"  from  Sabhal,  a  barn. 

Patrick  now  determined  to  go  to  the  palace  of  the 
Ard-Righ  at  Tara.  The  High-King  at  the  time 
was  Laeghaire,  son  of  Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages, 
and  cousin  of  the  late  King  Dathi.  At  the  time 
the  Druids  were  celebrating  a  great  festival,  and  the 
law  of  the  land  made  it  an  offence  punishable  with 
death  to  light  any  fire  until  the  Arch-Druid  had 
kindled  the  sacred  flame  on  Tara's  Hill  from  the  rays 
of  their  great  deity,  the  sun.  landing  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Boyne,  St.  Patrick  and  his  missioners  marched 
on  foot  to  the  hill  of  Slane.  There,  as  it  was  Holy 
Saturday,  the  eve  of  Easter,  in  ignorance  of  the  law 
of  the  land,  St.  Patrick  ordered  the  Paschal  Fire  to 
be  lit. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY  BY  ST.   PATRICK.      35 

Its  blaze  was  visible  at  Tara  and  created  consi- 
derable surprise  and  excitement,  as  might  be  expected. 

King  Laeghaire  demanded  the  meaning  of  it  from 
those  about  him,  and  then  one  of  his  druids  is  said 
to  have  prophetically  exclaimed  : 

"  We  cannot  say  who  has  kindled  the  fire,  but  if 
it  be  not  quenched  this  night,  'twill  never  be  quenched 
in  Erin." 

The  flame  lighted  that  night  of  Christianity  has 
never  yet  been  extinguished  in  Ireland. 

I/aeghaire  ordered  that  the  offender  be  brought  before 
him,  and  St.  Patrick  came,  and  boldly  proclaimed 
before  the  monarch  and  all  his  court  at  Tara  "  that 
he  had  come  to  quench  the  fires  of  pagan  sacrifice 
in  Ireland  and  light  the  flame  of  Christian  faith." 
It  was  on  this  famous  occasion  that  he  is  said  to 
have  stooped  and  picked  up  a  shamrock  from  the 
green  sod  beneath  his  feet  in  order  to  illustrate  the  mys- 
tery of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  three  Persons  in  One 
God.  So  arose  the  use  of  the  shamrock  as  the 
national  emblem  of  Ireland. 

I/aeghaire's  queen,  Eileen  or  Ailinn,  a  daughter  of  the 
sub-king  of  Cashel,  as  well  as  the  chief  poet  Dubtach, 
the  famous  brehon  or  judge  Ere  (who  became  first 
Bishop  of  Slane)  and  numerous  others  were  converted. 
But  the  Ard-Righ  himself  remained  obdurate,  and 
the  druids  assailed  Patrick  bitterly  and  tried  to  com- 
pass his  death  by  treachery.  However,  Laeghaire, 
probably  influenced  by  his  queen,  accorded  him  per- 
mission to  preach  throughout  the  land  so  long  as  he 
did  not  disturb  its  peace. 

From  Tara    St.   Patrick  went  to  Teltown,  where    a 


36  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

great  athletic  meeting  was  being  held,  and  converted 
many  there.  Thence  passing  through  Longford,  and 
founding  a  church  at  Ardagh,  he  went  on  to  the 
palace  of  the  Kings  of  Connaught,  Rathcroghan, 
famed  of  Queen  Mave,  as  already  recorded.  Seven 
years  he  is  said  to  have  spent  in  Connaught,  converting 
the  people ;  and  after  that  time  he  went  through 
Ossory  to  Cashel  of  the  Kings,  the  capital  and  royal 
palace  of  Munster. 

Angus  was  the  name  of  the  Munster  King,  and  the 
romantic  tale  is  told  that  while  the  Saint  was 
preaching  he  accidentally  struck  the  butt  of  his  crozier, 
spiked  so  as  to  permit  of  its  owner  planting  it  upright 
in  the  turf  beside  him,  through  the  monarch's  foot, 
and  did  not  discover  the  fact  until  he  had  finished 
his  sermon.  St.  Patrick  was  then  naturally  all  con- 
cern, seeing  the  royal  foot  bathed  in  blood  and  trans- 
fixed by  his  crozier. 

"  Oh,  why  did  you  not  tell  me,  king  ?  "  he  asked 
in  troubled  tones. 

"  I  thought,"  replied  Angus,  "  that  it  was  part 
of  the  ceremony,  to  indicate  in  a  manner  the  wounds 
the  Lord  bore  for  man's  redemption." 

"  Oh,  noble  king  !  "  thereupon  exclaimed  the  Saint, 
deeply  touched  by  his  simple  faith,  "  For  thy  re- 
ward, thy  successors  shall  flourish  here  many  years, 
and  all  win  eternal  life." 

Twenty-seven  monarchs  of  Angus's  race  succeeded 
him,  and  reigned  at  Cashel. 

After  numerous  baptisms  in  Munster,  St.  Patrick 
went  to  Ulster  and  founded  Armagh,  retiring  to  Saul, 
his  favourite  retreat,  as  his  end  drew  nigh.  He  died 


INTRODUCTION  OF   CHRISTIANITY  BY  ST.   PATRICK.      37 

on  March  I7th,  the  day  on  which  all  Irishmen 
celebrate  his  memory  to-day,  in  the  year  493.  It  is 
believed  that  he  lies  buried  at  Downpatrick. 

All  Ireland  was  now  Christian  ;  the  errors  of  Paganism 
had  fled  her  shores  before  the  coming  of  the  true  faith, 
and  she  now  became  known  as  "  the  Isle  of  Saints 
and  Scholars."  Innumerable  were  the  churches  and 
schools  that  uprose  within  her  green  valleys  ;  and  she 
now,  in  her  turn,  sent  forth  missionaries  to  other  lands. 

Among  the  saints  that  Ireland  produced  at  this 
period  was  St.  Columba,  or,  as  he  is  often  called,  St. 
Columb-cille,  i.e.,  Columba  of  the  Churches,  and 
most  romantic  is  the  story  of  his  life.  He  obtained 
the  loan  of  a  Latin  psalter  from  St.  Finnen  or  Finian, 
and,  without  the  owner's  permission,  made  a  copy 
of  it.  Wroth  at  this  infringement  of  copyright,  and 
denouncing  it  as  a  theft,  St.  Finnen  claimed  the  trans- 
cription. The  dispute  was  referred  to  the  Ard-Righ 
at  Tara,  then  King  Diarmid  or  Dermot,  a  descendant 
of  Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  for  settlement  or  arbi- 
tration. He  decided  against  St.  Columba  on  the 
theory  that  as  every  cow  owned  its  own  calf,  every 
book  should  own  its  own  copy ;  truly  a  Solomon's 
Judgment ! 

Very  much  dissatisfied  with  the  verdict,  St.  Columba 
retired  into  seclusion.  While  resting  in  silence,  the 
young  prince  of  Connaught,  Curnan  MacHugh,  fled 
to  him  for  protection,  having  accidentally  killed  the 
steward  of  the  High- King  with  a  blow  of  his  hurley 
in  a  game  of  hurling.  King  Diarmid  sent  some  of 
his  knights,  who  violated  the  sanctuary,  tore  Curnan 
from  St.  Columba's  arms,  and  put  him  to  death. 


38  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Justly  indignant  indeed,  now,  St.  Columba  with- 
drew from  the  Court  at  Tara,  and  repaired  to  his  own 
people  of  Tyrconnell,  the  O'Donnells,  descendants  of 
Nial's  son  Conal,  as  the  O'Neills  of  Tyr-Owen  were  of 
Eoghan  or  Owen,  another  son  of  the  great  Nial. 
The  Hy-Nials  of  the  North,  or  O'Donnells  and  O'Neills, 
incensed  at  the  insult  to  their  sainted  kinsman,  flew  to 
arms,  and,  marching  south,  attacked  Diarmid,  who 
represented  the  Hy-Nials  of  the  South. 

A  fearful  battle,  at  Cooldrewny,  in  Sligo,  resulted 
in  the  total  defeat  of  Diarmid,  who,  however,  promptly 
had  his  revenge  by  summoning  a  National  Synod,  at 
which  he  accused  Columba  of  having  caused  the  shed- 
ding of  Christian  blood.  The  Synod  excommunicated 
St.  Columba,  and  in  reparation  he  was  condemned  by 
St.  Molaise  to  perpetual  exile  from  Ireland. 

With  a  party  of  monks  then,  he  set  sail  from 
Derry  for  lona,  and,  establishing  themselves  there, 
he  and  his  companions  started  out  to  evangelise 
Scotland  or  Alba,  and  so  an  Irishman,  the  great  St. 
Columba,  became  the  Apostle  of  that  country,  meet- 
ing with  as  great  a  success  as  St.  Patrick  had  done 
in  the  mother-isle. 

He  solemnly  consecrated  Aidan  king  of  the  Scots 
on  the  Lia  Fail,  or  Stone  of  Destiny.  In  some  accounts 
of  his  life,  St.  Columb-Cille  is  alleged  to  have  returned 
to  Ireland,  having  obtained  a  remission  of  his  sentence 
of  exile  by  his  winning  so  many  souls  to  Christ,  thus 
wiping  away  the  Christian  blood  he  had  previously 
been  the  means  of  shedding.  He  returned  to  lona, 
however,  and  died  there,  his  body  afterwards  being 
brought  back  to  Ireland. 


INTRODUCTION  OF  CHRISTIANITY   BY  ST.   PATRICK.      39 

As  for  the  book  that  had  led  to  his  exiling,  it  was 
called  the  Cathach  or  "  Battler,"  and  the  greatest 
romance  hangs  round  it.  It  was  "  enshrined  in  a 
sort  of  portable  altar,"  and,  becoming  the  national 
relic  of  the  O'Donnells,  was  carried  round  with  their 
army,  when  they  were  going  into  battle,  for  more  than 
a  thousand  years.  It  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
MacDermotts  in  1497,  but  they  restored  it  to  the 
O'Donnell  clan  two  years  later.  For  fourteen  hun- 
dred years  it  has  been  in  the  O'Donnell  family,  "  and 
at  present  belongs  to  a  baronet  of  that  name  who 
has  permitted  it  to  be  exhibited  in  the  museum  of 
the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  where  it  can  be  seen  by 
all."  It  is  bound  in  silver  and  consists  of  fifty-eight 
leaves  of  parchment. 

St.  Columba  is  said  to  have  caused  his  eyes  to  be 
bandaged  on  his  return  from  exile  to  his  native 
land — as  he  had  sworn  never  again  to  look  upon 
its  shores — and  to  have  been  led  blindfolded  into 
the  great  Convention  of  kings,  princes,  bishops  and 
chiefs  at  Drumceat  he  came  to  attend. 

King  Diarmid  was  the  last  Irish  monarch  to  dwell 
at  Tara,  and  the  reason  of  this  is  supposed  to  be  because 
St.  Ruadan  or  Rhodanus  of  lyorrha  cursed  the  palace 
and  all  who  should  live  within  it  for  the  Ard-Righ's 
violation  of  sanctuary  in  the  case  of  the  hapless 
Curnan  MacHugh  and  another  refugee,  Hugh  Gawrie 
of  Hy-Many,  who  had  taken  refuge  at  I^orrha. 

"  No  more  to  chiefs  and  ladies  bright  the  harp  of  Tara 

swells. 

The  chord  alone  that  breaks  at  night  its  tale  of 
ruin  tells." 


40  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

"  The  harp  of  Tara  hung  silent  upon  the  palace 
walls  "  (D'Alton),  and  thenceforth  "  Tara,  darkened  and 
blighted  by  the  Saint's  curses,  was  deserted." 

A  Saxon  army  from  Northumbria,  sent  by  Egfrid, 
the  Eling  of  that  part  of  England,  now  invaded  Ireland 
and  ravaged  the  coast  from  Dublin  to  Drogheda  for 
a  time.  But  a  far  worse  foe  was  already  on  the  seas 
and  fated  to  lay  both  Saxon  England  and  Gaelic  Ireland 
prostrate  at  his  feet  for  a  time — the  heathen  Dane. 


THE   COMING   OF   THE   DANES.  4! 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE    COMING   OF  THE    DANES. — How  MALACHY   WON 

"  THE      COLLAR      OF     GOLD,"     AND     BRIAN       BORU 
BROKE    THE     DANISH     POWER    AT   CLONTARF. 

The  hardy  sea-rovers  and  fierce  pirates  of  the  eighth, 
ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  who  are  generally  classed 
all  together  under  the  name  of  "  Danes,"  first  invaded 
Ireland  in  795  A.D.  They  landed  in  I^ambay  Island, 
near  Dublin,  and  plundered  it.  Only  a  small  party,  they 
went  off  again,  but  they  took  back  with  them  to  their 
bleak  northern  homes  glowing  accounts  of  the  smiling 
green  isle  of  Erin,  and  its  rich  treasures,  only  waiting 
for  bold  spirits  to  bring  away  by  the  strong  hand. 

These  Danes,  Northmen,  Norsemen  or  Vikings,  as  they 
may  be  called  at  will,  came  from  the  inhospitable 
shores  of  the  Baltic  and  North  Sea,  and  were 
Pagans  still,  worshipping  Odin,  the  god  of  war,  Thor 
the  Thunderer,  and  Freya,  the  Scandinavian  Venus. 
The  Irish  called  those  that  hailed  from  Norway  and 
Sweden — Fingalls,  i.e.,  white  strangers,  from  their 
fair  hair  and  complexions,  and  those  that  came  from 
Denmark  itself,  Duvgalls,  or  black  strangers,  on 
account  of  their  swarthy  faces  and  dark  hair. 

At  first  these  wild  marauders  only  "came  in  detached 
parties  and  solely  for  plunder,  confining  their  ravages  to 


42  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

the  islands  and  the  coast.  But,  becoming  bolder  by 
reason  of  their  success,  they  penetrated  by  degrees 
into  the  interior  of  the  country."  Wherever  they 
appeared,  they  spread  havoc  and  terror.  They  spared 
neither  sex  nor  age,  slaughtering  all  who  opposed  them 
and  carrying  off  those  who  submitted,  men,  women 
and  children,  to  be  sold  as  slaves. 

Believing  that  death  on  the  field  of  battle  threw 
open  the  gates  of  Valhalla,  their  sensual  Paradise,  to 
them,  they  were  as  brave  as  they  were  ferocious — 
fearless  and  stubborn  in  battle,  slow  to  admit  them- 
selves beaten.  Their  famous  Reafan  or  Raven,  their 
battle-flag,  representing  a  black  raven  on  a  blood-red 
field,  was  supposed  to  be  endowed  with  magic  powers 
and  to  have  been  woven  in  a  single  noontide  by  the 
three  daughters  of  one  of  their  most  famous  sea- 
kings,  Ragnar  Xodbrog.  I/>dbrog  did  not  trouble 
Ireland,  apparently,  but  confined  his  attentions  more 
to  her  sister  isle,  Britain,  although  some  authorities 
have  tried  to  identify  him  with  the  great  Danish 
invader  of  our  land,  the  renowned  Turgesius  or 
Thorgils. 

That  those  two  renowned  marauders  were  two 
distinct  men,  and  not  one  and  the  same  person  is 
pretty  evident  from  any  close  study  of  the  period 
and  of  the  separate  histories  of  England  and  Ireland. 

It  was  about  A.D.  832  that  the  great  Viking  Thorgils, 
whose  name  is  more  familiar  under  its  Latinised  form 
of  Turgesius,  landed  with  a  great  fleet  of  120  ships, 
and  conceived  the  idea  of  making  the  country  a 
Danish  kingdom,  subjecting  all  broad  Erin  to  his 
sway.  The  way  for  this  ambition  of  his  had  been 


THE   COMING   OF   THE   DANES.  43 

paved,  to  a  certain  extent,  by  the  numerous  previous 
inroads  of  his  countrymen.  Although  severely  checked 
from  time  to  time  the  savage  raiders  had  considerably 
weakened  the  resistance  of  the  Irish  people.  These 
fled  now,  for  the  most  part,  at  the  very  tidings  of  the 
coming  of  their  bloodthirsty  Pagan  foes.  Moreover, 
the  native  chiefs  and  petty  kings  played  into  the 
hands  of  Turgesius  by  their  own  petty,  but  bitter, 
jealousies  and  warfare. 

Simultaneously  entering  the  Boyne  and  the  Iviffey, 
Turgesius  and  his  Danes  ravaged  Meath,  the  patri- 
mony of  the  Ard-Righ,  as  well  as  Louth  and  Armagh, 
forcing  the  primate  of  this  latter  county  to  flee  into 
Munster.  The  gold  and  silver  sacred  vessels  of 
the  monasteries  were  the  great  attraction  to  the 
rapacious  Pagans,  who  "  butchered  the  monks  like 
sheep,"  and  it  was  now — as  monastery  keeps,  it  has 
been  conclusively  proved — that  the  famous  round 
towers  of  our  land  were  erected  everywhere.  Within 
these  towers  the  church  plate  would  be  conveyed 
from  the  adjoining  abbeys  and  monasteries  at  the 
first  signal  of  alarm  from  a  sentinel  posted  on  the 
top  floor  ;  and,  if  besieged,  the  defenders  would  retreat 
from  floor  to  floor,  taking  up  the  ladders  after  them 
and  raining  down  heavy  stones  and  other  missiles  until 
either  help  came  or  the  foe  retired  baffled,  the  latter 
case  being  as  likely  as  the  former. 

The  Ard-Righ  and  provincial  native  princes  offered 
but  feeble  opposition  to  the  Pagans,  and  Danish 
colonies  were  established  at  I/imerick,  Dundalk,  and 
other  places,  including  one  at  Rindoon,  L,ough  Ree, 
where  Turgesius  now  fixed  his  headquarters  and  ruled 


44  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

as  the  sovereign  lord  of  Ireland,  self-styled.  He  was 
able,  too,  to  enforce  his  authority  in  great  measure 
and  levied  a  dreadful  tax  or  tribute  from  the  subject 
Irish  people  round.  This  tribute  was  called  "  Nosegelt  " 
or  "  Nosemoney,"  gelt  being  Danish  for  money,  be- 
cause the  penalty  for  its  non-payment  was  the 
cutting  off  of  the  defaulter's  nose. 

Ruled  by  ruthless  heathens,  with  their  glorious  monas- 
teries everywhere  in  ruins,  their  schools,  renowned 
hitherto  through  Christianity,  destroyed,  hardly  left 
enough  to  keep  body  and  soul  together,  it  seemed 
the  end  of  all  things  to  the  hapless  people,  when 
there  came  to  the  dignity  of  Ard-Righ — now  a  rather 
empty  title  and  dignity  it  would  seem — one  worthy  at 
last  of  its  glorious  traditions. 

All  Ulster  and  Connaught,  with  Meath,  was  at  this 
time  subject  to  Turgesius.  Meath  was  the  Ard- 
Righ's  own  special  kingdom,  and  it  seemed  a 
hopeless  task  for  him  to  think  of  anything  like  an 
effective  blow  against  the  Danish  tyrant.  But  High- 
King  Malachy  determined  upon  a  stratagem.  He 
feigned  compliance  and  complacency  under  Turgesius' s 
rule,  and  offered  him  his  daughter  in  marriage.  The 
girl  was  most  beautiful  and  the  Danish  monarch  readily 
fell  into  the  trap. 

The  lady  with  fifteen  attendants  went  to  Turgesius's 
palace,  which  was  close  by  King  Malachy's.  The 
attendants  were  apparently  lovely  maidens  like  their 
young  mistress,  but  instead  they  were  all  young  men 
of  handsome  appearance,  merely  disguised,  and  with 
arms  under  their  disguises.  At  a  given  signal  they  fell 
upon  Turgesius  and  his  officers,  slew  all  in  the  palace 


THE   COMING   OF   THE   DANES.  45 

but  the  fierce  old  monarch  himself,  and  carried  him 
off  prisoner  to  Malachy,  who  had  him  bound  hand  and 
foot  and  drowned  in  I/ough  Owel.  Malachy  then 
raised  and  armed  the  subject  people,  and  the  Danish 
supremacy  was,  for  a  time,  overthrown. 

But  Ireland  did  not  long  enjoy  her  immunity.  Fresh 
hordes  of  Danes  poured  into  the  devoted  land,  panting 
to  avenge  the  defeat  of  their  predecessors  and,  if 
possible,  possess  themselves  in  turn  of  the  fair  valleys 
and  plains. 

Danish  colonies  at  Dublin,  limerick,  and  Water- 
ford  had  managed  to  hold  their  own,  when  their 
countrymen  everywhere  else  had  been  driven  into  the 
sea.  With  these  strongholds  as  passage-ports  into 
the  country,  the  new  comers  spread  once  more  over 
this  in  every  direction.  From  Limerick  in  particu- 
lar, Imar,  a  famous  Viking,  and  his  sons,  with  a  great 
army  laid  waste  Munster,  and  exacted  a  tax  of  an 
ounce  of  silver  per  head  in  lieu  of  slavery. 

The  Dalcassians  and  Eugenians  were  the  two  great 
governing  Southern  clans,  as  the  Hy-Nials  were  the 
predominant  and  kingly  race  of  the  north  of  Ireland. 
Thomond  or  North  Munster  (Clare  to-day)  was  the 
country  of  the  Dalcassians,  who  were  a  very  proud  and 
haughty  race,  claiming  exemption  from  taxes  under 
the  Ard-Righ  and  the  hereditary  right  of  forming  the 
van  in  battle  and  the  rearguard  in  retreat.  From 
them,  alternately  with  the  Eugenians,  were  always 
chosen  the  Kings  of  Cashel. 

About  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century,  the  Dalcassian 
prince  on  the  throne  of  Munster  was  Mahon,  and  he  had 
a  younger  brother  named  Brian,  who  accompanied  him 


46  THE    ROMANCE    OP    IRISH    HISTORY. 

in  all  his  military  expeditions  against  the  Danes.  This 
younger  brother  of  the  ruling  sovereign  was  the  after- 
wards justly  celebrated  Brian  Boru  or  Borumha,  i.e., 
"  Brian  of  the  Tribute,"  whose  memory  is  the  brightest 
of  all  the  ancient  High  Kings  of  Erin.  Students  of 
both  Irish  and  English  history  must  remark  the 
great  and  striking  resemblance  between  Brian  Boru  and 
the  Saxon  King  Alfred.  Both  succeeded  brothers, 
after  being  those  brothers'  right  hand  men  and  ablest 
lieutenants  in  the  fighting  with  the  same  terrible  foe, 
the  Pagan  Danish  invaders ;  both  conquered  these, 
broke  their  power  in  one  great  battle,  the  one  at 
Clontarf,  the  other  at  Ethandune,  and  freed  their  res- 
pective nations  for  ever  practically  from  the  heathen 
yoke. 

King  Mahon  for  a  time  indeed  made  peace  with 
the  all-conquering  invaders,  submitted  to  them,  but 
Brian  would  not,  and,  retreating  into  the  forests  and 
mountains  of  north  Munster,  carried  on  the  same  sort 
of  guerilla  warfare  as  his  Saxon  counterpart  did  in 
the  fens  of  Somersetshire.  He  sallied  forth  from  time 
to  time,  inflicting  a  severe  reverse  on  the  Danes ; 
he  would  cut  off  their  supplies,  and,  sending  out 
frequent  foraging  parties,  harass  them  in  every  con- 
ceivable way. 

At  the  first  favourable  chance  he  sent  a  letter  to  his 
brother,  reproaching  him  for  so  tamely  laying  down 
his  arms  to  the  foreign  invader,  and  the  letter 
stung  Mahon  to  the  quick.  Assembling  an  army  again, 
Mahon  joined  Brian's  guerilla  band,  and,  once  more 
united  in  love  and  arms,  the  two  brothers  met  the 
Danes  of  Limerick  at  Sulcoit,  now  Solohead,  three 


THE   COMING   OF   THE   DANES.  47 

miles  from  Tipperary,  and  routed  them  completely. 
The  victorious  Thomond  men  then  laid  siege  to 
Limerick  itself,  and  captured  it,  and  King  Mahon  was 
firmly  re-established  on  the  throne  of  Cashel  as  King  of 
Munster. 

But  the  Eugenian  pretender  or  rival  to  the  throne, 
the  Prince  of  Desmond  or  South  Munster,  whose  name 
was  Molloy,  conspired  against  King  Mahon  with 
Donovan,  the  chief  of  Hy-Carbry,  and  Ivar,  the 
leader  of  the  remnant  of  the  L,imerick  Danes,  who 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  holy  island  of  Scattery  and 
fortified  it.  A  peaceful  conference  was  suggested  by 
the  traitors  at  the  dun  or  moated  fortress  of 
Donovan,  and  Mahon  was  invited  to  it,  the  safety  of 
all  who  attended  being  guaranteed  by  the  Bishop  of 
Cork. 

Mahon  went,  all  unsuspecting,  unarmed  and  un- 
attended, and  was  treacherously  seized  by  Donovan, 
and  handed  over  to  Molloy,  who  suddenly  plunged 
his  sword  into  him.  This,  under  the  eyes  of  the 
horrified  Bishop  of  Cork,  who  had  not  time  to  intervene. 
The  murdered  man  had  with  him  a  copy  of  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Finnbar,  a  relic  much  venerated  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  it  is  said  that  as  he  held  the  book  open 
before  him,  deeming  Molloy  would  never  commit  such 
a  sacrilege  as  to  strike  him  through  its  sacred  pages,  the 
murderer's  weapon  pierced  "  right  through  the  vellum 
which  became  all  stained  and  matted  with  his  blood." 

Brian  was  at  Kincora,  the  famous  palace  of  the 
Dalcassian  princes,  when  the  news  of  the  foul  deed 
reached  him.  He  swore  an  oath  of  dreadful  ven- 
geance, and  faithfully,  only  too  faithfully,  did  he 


48  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

execute  it.  By  the  rule  of  alternate  succession, 
Molloy,  as  the  Eugenian  prince,  now  became  King 
of  Munster,  but  he  reckoned  without  his  host  in  Brian, 
if  he  thought  that  youth  incapable  of  avenging  his 
beloved  brother's  death.  Brian,  by  his  brother's 
death  King  of  Thomond,  hurled  himself  first,  swift  as 
a  thunderbolt  and  as  deadly,  against  the  Danes  under 
Ivar  in  Scattery.  Ivar  and  his  two  sons  were  slain 
and  their  people  utterly  destroyed.  Now  Brian  turned 
on  Molloy,  the  second  but  chief  murderer  of  his 
brother.  In  a  battle  at  Macroom  between  the 
Dalcassians  and  the  Eugenians,  the  infamous  Molloy 
fell  by  the  hand  of  Morrogh,  Brian's  eldest  son,  a  lad 
of  only  fifteen.  Siege  was  laid,  practically  simul- 
taneously, to  Donovan's  fortress,  and  in  its  attack  the 
last  of  the  three  murderers  was  killed. 

Brian  was  now  undisputed  master  of  Munster,  but 
he  determined  to  make  himself  Ard-Righ  or  High- 
King  over  all  Erin.  He  invaded  Ossory  and  I/einster, 
as  well  as  Connaught  and  Meath,  subduing  each  in 
turn. 

The  Ard-Righ  at  the  time  was  well  worthy  also, 
as  it  happened,  of  the  sceptre — Malachy  the  Second, 
or  Malachy  More — he  whom  our  national  poet  Moore 
has  justly  celebrated  as  wearing  "  the  collar  of  gold 
which  he  won  from  the  proud  invader."  He  in  his 
turn,  rightly  resenting  those  unlawful  incursions, 
invaded  Thomond  and  defeated  the  Dalcassians  in  a 
great  fight.  A  venerable  tree,  under  the  shade  of 
which  the  Dalcassian  or  Thomond  kings  were  always 
solemnly  inaugurated,  he  cut  down  and  used  to  roof 
part  of  a  new  palace  he  was  building. 


THE   COMING   OF   THE   DANES.  49 

Malachy  too,  in  his  half  of  the  country,  had 
constantly  fought  and  inflicted  reverses  on  the 
Danish  invaders.  He  only  allowed  them  to  remain 
on  condition  they  paid  him  tribute.  The  exploit  so 
celebrated  by  the  poet  Moore  and  referred  to  above, 
took  place  when  he  defeated  the  famous  Viking 
chief,  Tomar,  at  Dublin.  In  those  heroic  days  it  was 
a  common  thing  for  the  leader  of  one  side  in  a 
battle  to  challenge  to  single  combat  the  leader  of 
the  opposing  side.  Malachy  either  challenged  or  was 
challenged  by  Tomar,  who  was  bidding  fair  to  become 
a  second  Turgesius,  and  the  Irish  Ard-Righ  killed  the 
redoubtable  Norse  warrior  in  a  terrific  hand-to-hand 
duel,  and  afterwards  fought  and  killed  another  Danish 
prince  named  Carolus.  Tomar  wore  a  massive  collar  of 
gold,  and  Malachy  took  this  from  round  his  neck  and 
clasped  it  about  his  own,  and  from  the  nerveless 
hand  of  the  second  Viking  the  Ard-Righ  took  a 
magnificent  jewel-hilted  sword. 

Naturally  such  a  man  was  not  going  to  quietly 
surrender  his  birthright  of  High-King  to  the  first 
comer,  and  a  dreadful  civil  war  was  now  inaugurated 
between  him  and  Brian  of  Munster  for  the  suzerainty 
of  the  island.  For  long — twenty  years — the  war  was 
waged  with  varying  success,  and  unhappily,  this  inter- 
necine strife  enabled  the  Dane  to  again  make  good  his 
footing  in  green  Erin,  so  much  so  that  at  last  Brian 
and  Malachy  very  prudently  agreed  to  sink  their 
personal  quarrel  and  unite  against  the  common  foe. 

The  two  Irish  Kings  agreed  to  divide  Ireland  between 
them  into  lyeh-Conn  and  I^egh-Mogh  once  more,  as 
their  ancestors  had  done  ;  and  then,  joining  forces,  they 

E 


5O  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

gave  battle  to  the  Danish  invaders.  These  had  come 
at  the  solicitation  of  Maelmorra,  King  of  Leinster,  who 
had  revolted  against  the  Ard-Righ.  Harold,  the 
Danish  Crown  Prince,  was  in  command  of  the  invaders, 
and  undoubtedly  the  fate  of  the  kingdom  hung  on  the 
battle  that  ensued  at  Glenmama,  near  Dunlavin,  in 
Wicklow  (A.D  1000). 

It  was  a  most  glorious  victory  for  the  two  Irish  Kings 
The  Danish  Prince  and  4,000  of  his  men  were  slain,  and 
the  renegade  Maelmorra,  King  of  Leinster,  was  taken 
prisoner  but  spared.  Now  was  it  that  Brian,  who  was 
practically  High- King,  obtained  his  surname  or  sobriquet 
Boru  "  of  the  Tribute."  To  punish  the  Leinster 
men,  he  re-imposed  the  cow-tribute  or  "  borumha," 
which  Ard-Righs  had  formerly  exacted  from  them. 

Most  unjustly  Brian  turned  on  Malachy,  who  all 
along  would  seem  to  have  been  of  a  nobler  character 
than  his  great  rival,  and  insisted  on  being  crowned 
High-King.  This  was  practically  a  usurpation,  for  the 
position  had  hitherto  only  been  held  by  descendants 
of  Nial  of  the  Nine  Hostages,  by  kings  of  the  blood  of 
the  Hy-Nial. 

Malachy,  unable  to  hold  his  own  in  the  field,  resigned 
the  sceptre  and  became,  to  his  infinite  credit,  Brian's 
devoted  adherent  as  well  as  tributary  king. 

High-King  Brian  proved  himself  one  of  the  wisest 
and  best  rulers  Erin  had  ever  known.  Once  more 
the  country  smiled  with  peace  and  prosperity  Religion 
again  raised  its  head,  and  schools  and  monastic 
institutions  sprang  up  all  over  the  land  once  more. 
Brian  held  his  court  at  Kincora  with  a  splendour 
not  to  be  surpassed  at  any  other  royal  court  in 


THE    COMING   OF   THE    DANES.  51 

Europe.  As  Moore  has  sung,  a  lady,  wearing  gems 
"  rich  and  rare  "  and  "  a  gold  ring  on  her  wand,"  is 
said  to  have  travelled  unattended,  yet  unmolested, 
from  Tory  Island  to  Glandore,  her  "  maiden  smile 
in  safety  "  lighting  "  her  round  the  green  isle." 

But  the  treachery  of  the  Leinster  King,  Maelmorra, 
had  only  been  scotched,  not  killed.  He  entered  again 
into  conspiracy  with  the  subject  Danes,  and  they 
sent  secretly  to  their  brethren  in  Norway  and 
Denmark,  the  Orkney  and  Shetlands,  the  Isle  of 
Man,  Northumbria  in  England,  and  the  Hebrides, 
urging  a  general  and  united  descent  upon  the  Irish 
shore. 

Maelmorra's  sister,  Gormfleth,  was  the  subject  Danish 
King  of  Dublin's  mother,  and  she  helped  the  treason 
and  invasion  in  every  conceivable  way  "  She  was 
the  fairest  of  women,  but  she  did  all  things  ill."  A 
second  Helen  of  Troy  she  appears  to  have  been,  and 
a  forerunner  of  that  other  faithless  woman  whose 
elopement  led  to  the  Norman  invasion  of  Ireland  a 
century  or  so  later.  She  was  the  divorced  wife  of 
Malachy  and  also  of  a  former  Danish  prince,  and 
she  now  offered  herself  secretly  in  marriage,  together 
with  the  crown  of  all  Ireland,  to  both  Brodar,  the 
Danish  king  of  Man,  and  Sigurd,  Earl  of  the  Orkneys. 

Twenty  thousand  strong,  the  Danish  armada  landed 
in  Dublin  Bay,  the  whole  surface  of  which  was  covered 
with  their  ships.  Brian  was  not  caught  napping.  He 
received  timely  word  of  the  invasion  ;  and,  with  a  force 
about  equal  to  the  invaders,  marched  swiftly  on 
Dublin  and  drew  up  his  forces  on  the  famous  plain  of 
CI.ONTARF  outside  the  city 


52  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

Bloody  was  the  fearful  conflict  which  ensued  on 
Good  Friday,  1014  A.D.  All  day  the  battle  raged, 
neither  side  seeming  to  gain  the  upper  hand.  It  was 
chiefly  waged  hand  to  hand  with  the  battle-axe,  in  the 
use  of  which  the  Irish  had  grown  as  expert  as  their 
foes.  At  length  the  Danes  began  to  retreat  to  their 
ships.  Malachy  came  up  with  a  fresh  contingent  of 
troops  in  time  to  fall  upon  them  and  complete  the 
rout.  The  Danes  lost  7,000  men  and  the  Irish  4,000. 

But  dreadful  was  the  loss  on  both  sides  of  princes 
and  chiefs.  Brodar,  the  Manx  Dane  prince,  fleeing 
after  the  battle,  came  upon  Brian's  tent  unguarded. 
He  and  his  escort  burst  in  and  found  the  aged 
Brian  who  had  not,  on  account  of  his  age,  taken 
part  in  the  actual  fighting — he  was  88 — on  his 
knees  in  prayer.  The  savage  Viking  clove  in  his  head 
with  an  axe,  but  was  immediately  afterwards  captured 
and  put  to  death  by  Brian's  truant  guards.  Morrogh, 
Brian's  son,  who  commanded  in  the  fight,  fell  with 
his  son  Turlogh,  in  the  battle  ;  and  Maelmorra  the 
traitor,  the  Norwegian  Prince  Amrud  and  Sigurd  of 
Orkney  perished  on  the  Danish  side. 

One  more  romantic  episode  ere  this  chapter  is  closed 
As  the  victorious  but  sorrowing  army  of  Dalcassians 
was  returning  home  to  Munster,  it  was  intercepted  by 
Magillapatrick,  Prince  of  Ossory,  whose  father  had 
once  been  put  in  fetters  by  Brian  Boru.  The 
wounded  and  bleeding  heroes  of  Clontarf  bade  their 
abler  brethren  bind  them  to  stakes  in  the  front  rank, 
so  that  they  could  strike  blows  with  their  battle-axes 
though  unable  to  stand. 

This  was  done,  and  the  Ossory  men  were  so  struck 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  DANES.  53 

with  awe  and  admiration  for  their  brave  foes  that, 
with  all  the  true  generosity  and  chivalry  of 
Irishmen,  they  forebore  to  attack,  cheered  them  and 
let  them  proceed  unmolested 


PART    II. 
THE   ANGLO-NORMAN   INVASION 

There  was  a  clash  of  weapons  in  the  air — 

Ruin  of  peace  and  seasonable  good ; 
And,  flanked  by  gallant  natures  everywhere, 

The  green  flag  staggered  over  fields  of  blood. 
The  Norman  steed  was  stabled  in  thy  fanes, 

The  Norman  bugles  rang  upon  the  heath  ; 
Thy  children  bared  their  hearts  and  spurned  their  chains, 

And  sealed  their  glorious  constancy  in  death. 

"  Our  Faith — Our  Fatherland," 
By  JOHN  F.  O'DoNNEi,!,. 


HOW  MACMURROUGH  BROUGHT  THE  ENGLISH  OVER.   57 


CHAPTER  VI. 

How  DERMOT  MACMURROUGH  BROUGHT  THE  ENGLISH 

OVER. 

The  power  of  the  Danes  in  Ireland  was  broken  for 
ever  by  the  victory  of  Clontarf,  but  King  Brian's 
successful  usurpation  of  the  sceptre  of  the  Ard-Righ 
now  led  to  other  petty  princes  thinking  of  likewise 
grasping  the  suzerainty. 

Malachy  became  High- King  again  on  Brian's  death, 
and  ruled  well  during  his  life  time,  but  when  he  died 
the  whole  country  fell  away,  the  old  discords  cropping 
up  again.  It  was  in  his  seventy- third  year  that 
Malachy  "  the  Great  and  Good,"  died,  and  the 
Four  Masters  justly  style  him  in  their  Annals,  "  the 
pillar  of  dignity  and  nobility  of  the  western  world." 
He  was  the  last  King  of  Ireland  of  the  true  old 
Hy-Nial  stock. 

The  son  of  Brian,  now  to  be  known  as  the  head 
of  the  O'Briens,  became  Ard-Righ  and  handed  on 
the  crown  to  others  of  his  family,  but  the  O'Briens 
found  foes  on  all  sides,  and  another  family,  the 
O'Connors,  destroyed  Kincora  and  subdued  all 
Munster.  Roderick  O'Connor  became  Ard-Righ  and 
was  paid  homage  by  the  Clan  Conal.  He  divided 
Tyrowen  between  the  O'1/oughlins  and  O'Neills,  and 


58  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

for  a  time  "  no  Ard-Righ  was  ever  obeyed  more 
readily  or  could  bring  together  a  greater  force."  But 
he  was  destined,  alas,  to  be  the  last  free  King  of  Ireland 
Dermot  MacMurrough,  whose  name  has  been  accursed 
in  the  hearts  of  all  Irishmen  through  the  succeeding 
centuries,  was  King  of  Leinster.  In  the  year  1152, 
he  induced  Devorghil,  the  wife  of  Tiernan  O'Rourke, 
Prince  of  Breffny,  to  elope  with  him.  O'Rourke 
appealed  to  the  Ard-Righ  for  justice,  and  King 
O'Connor  promptly  marched  against  the  offender,  and 
compelled  him  to  restore  O'Rourke's  wife  and  do 
penance  But  Dermot  MacMurrough  nurtured  revenge 
and  was  a  second  Maelmorra,  the  traitor  of  Brian 
Boru's  day  He  fled  the  country,  hated  even  by  his 
own  people  for  his  cruelty  and  utter  baseness,  and  his 
cousin  was  made  King  of  Leinster  in  his  stead  by 
the  Ard-Righ. 

Panting  for  revenge,  he  sought  out  the  Norman  King 
of  England,  Henry  II.,  at  that  time  in  Aquitaine, 
a  province  of  France ;  and  here  let  me  correct  a 
popular  error.  The  Saxon  was  not  the  ancient  foe  of 
Ireland,  but  the  Norman.  The  Saxon  was  Ireland's 
old  ally.  Harold,  the  last  of  the  Saxon  Kings,  had 
found  support  and  allies  in  Ireland,  and  because  he 
had  done  so  his  Norman  conquerors  bore  the  Irish 
no  good- will. 

Dermot  the  Traitor  asked  aid  from  the  English  King 
to  get  back  his  princedom,  and  the  wily  English 
monarch  saw  in  giving  him  that  aid  a  chance  of 
establishing  a  footing  in  the  sister  isle.  Henry,  how- 
ever, had  his  hands  full  at  the  time  and  could  not 
attend  to  the  matter  He,  however,  gave  Dermot 


HOW  MACMURROUGH  BROUGHT  THE  ENGLISH  OVER.   59 

permission  to  enlist  such  of  his  followers  as  cared  to 
proceed  to  Ireland.  Dermot  returned  to  England, 
armed  with  this  permit,  and  repaired  to  the  court 
of  Griffith,  the  Prince  of  North  Wales.  He  obtained 
promises  of  support  from  Griffith  and  several  of  the 
Norman  barons  living  on  the  Welsh  borders,  chief 
among  whom  were  Richard  de  Clare,  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  generally  known  as  Strongboiv,  Robert 
Fitzstephen,  and  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  all  three 
adventurers  in  needy  circumstances. 

Strongbow  or  Pembroke,  in  fact,  bound  Dermot 
down  to  promising  him  the  right  of  succession  to 
his  kingdom — a  power  which,  under  the  law  of 
Tanistry,  or  the  Irish  elective  method  of  succession, 
Dermot  could  not  rightly  give — and  the  hand  of  his 
only  daughter  Eva  as  wife. 

To  open  the  campaign  Dermot  sailed  back  to  Ireland, 
accompanied  only  by  Griffith  and  a  band  of  Fleming 
mercenaries,  the  Norman  barons  promising  to  follow 
him  as  soon  as  they  could  get  an  army  together. 
The  High-King  Roderick  met  and  slew  Griffith  at 
Kellistown  in  Carlow,  and  Dermot  humbly  submitted, 
giving  hostages  and  gold  for  his  good  behaviour  and 
retiring  to  the  monastery  of  Ferns. 

In  the  month  of  May,  true  to  his  promise  at  any 
rate,  the  Norman  baron  Fitzstephen  landed  with  a 
small  force  of  armour-clad  knights,  men-at-arms,  and 
archers  at  Bannow  Bay,  Wexford  Dermot  promptly 
joined  the  invaders  with  500  horse.  Wexford 
surrendered  to  them,  and  Ossory  was  invaded,  Dermot 
raising  a  force  of  3,000  of  his  countrymen.  The 
mail-clad  Norman  cavalry  bore  down  all  opposition, 


6O  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

for  their  foes  wore  no  defensive  armour  and  were 
by  no  means  as  well-trained,  well-armed,  or  well- 
mounted. 

High-King  Roderick,  alarmed  at  these  proceed- 
ings, now  held  a  meeting  of  the  tributary  princes  at 
Tara ;  and,  as  a  result,  a  large  army  was  brought 
together,  at  the  head  of  which  he  marched  against 
Dermot  and  his  Norman  allies.  Outnumbered, 
MacMurrough  resorted  to  guile.  He  said  he  only 
asked  to  be  restored  to  his  principality,  and  he 
would  recognise  the  suzerainty  of  the  Ard-Righ, 
dismiss  his  foreign  allies,  and  introduce  no  more  of 
them  into  the  land,  but  live  at  peace  with  his  neigh- 
bours. He  offered  his  son  Connor  as  a  hostage,  and 
King  Roderick  very  foolishly  consented  to  the  terms 
he  offered. 

Dermot  was  only  waiting  for  reinforcements  from 
his  other  Norman  confederates ;  and  Fitzgerald 
came  in  the  autumn  (A.D.  1169),  with  sufficient  men  to 
induce  him  to  break  through  his  solemn  compact 
with  King  Roderick  and  march  on  Dublin,  which 
had  refused  to  receive  him  back  as  its  prince 
O'Brien,  king  of  Limerick,  now  revolted  against 
Roderick,  and,  deeming  the  time  propitious  for 
himself  seizing  the  position  of  Ard-Righ,  Dermot 
sent  letters  urging  the  tardy  Strongbow  to  come 
now  or  never. 

Strongbow  was  not  slow  to  respond  He  sent 
over  a  small  force  under  Raymond  le  Gros,  or  "  the 
Fat,"  in  the  spring  of  1170,  and  on  the  27th  of  August 
following,  he  came  himself  with  1,600  men,  of  whom 
200  were  heavy  horse.  Joined  by  Raymond  the  Fat, 


HOW  MACMURROUGH  BROUGHT  THE  ENGLISH  OVER.   6l 

Strongbow  attacked    Waterford.        The    town    was    a 
walled    city,    built    by    the    Danes,    and   the    citizens 
resisted     stoutly,      twice      repulsing      the      assailants 
Raymond   the  Fat  contrived  a  breach  in  the  defences 
however,  and,  bursting  through  it,  the  Normans  got  in 

Dermot  came  with  his  daughter  Eva  in  time  to  see 
the  town  captured ;  and,  amid  the  smoking  ruins  of  the 
city,  the  ill-omened  marriage  of  Strongbow  and  the 
Traitor's  daughter  was  duly  solemnized.  The 
Normans,  now  swollen  to  5,000  without  counting  the 
MacMurroughs,  marched  through  the  mountains  of 
Wicklow  upon  Dublin.  Fearing  butchery  if  the  city 
surrendered,  the  citizens  sent  out  their  archbishop, 
the  great  St.  Laurence  O'Toole,  to  parley  for  terms 

He  was  received  with  every  symptom  of  respect  in 
the  Norman  camp,  but  while  the  citizens  were  thus 
deluded  into  temporary  neglect  of  vigilance,  two  parties 
of  the  English,  under  Milo  de  Cogan  and  Raymond 
the  Fat,  broke  into  the  city  and  commenced  an 
indiscriminate  massacre 

High- King  Roderick  had  approached  to  the  relief 
of  the  city  with  a  large  army,  but  he  seems  at  this 
crisis  to  have  been  most  "  feeble  and  vacillating." 
Unprepared  to  besiege  the  English  within  the  walls  of 
Dublin,  he  broke  up  his  camp  at  Clondalkin  and  pusil- 
lanimously  retired  towards  Connaught.  Strongbow 
followed  at  his  heels,  fell  suddenly  upon  his  camp 
at  Finglas,  and  routed  his  great  host  of  something 
like  30,000  fighting  men,  almost  without  striking  a 
blow.  Roderick,  "  the  vain  and  incapable,"  was 
bathing  at  the  time  and  narrowly  escaped  with  his 
life  "  Nor  would  his  soldiers  have  had  any  reason  for 


62  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

regret   if    he    was    pierced  by    some    English     ance," 
writes  D' Alton. 

But  now  Nemesis  overtook  the  traitor.  Dermot  Mac- 
Murrough  He  was  struck  dowrn,  it  is  said,  by  a 
loathsome  disease,  to  which  he  succumbed  at  Ferns, 
1171.  He  is  often  referred  to  as  Dermot  '  of  the 
English,"  as  he  brought  them  into  Ireland 

Strongbow  now  proclaimed  himself  King  of  Leinster 
and  thus  aroused  the  jealousy  of  his  own  rightful 
sovereign,  Henry  II.  of  England,  who  feared  that 
his  ambition  was  to  become  King  of  all  Ireland: 
Henry  sent  messengers  commanding  Strongbow  and 
the  other  Norman  barons  and  knights  to  return  to 
England.  Strongbow  temporised  by  sending  a  sub- 
missive letter,  declaring  that  he  was  but  trying  to  win 
the  country  for  his  liege  lord,  the  King,  and 
inviting  the  monarch  over.  Thereupon  Henry,  in 
October  1171,  sailed  for  Ireland  with  a  fleet  of  over 
400  ships  and  an  army  of  500  knights  and  4,000 
men-at-arms. 

Apparently  it  was  more  to  make  a  parade  of  his 
power  than  attempt  a  conquest  of  the  country  that 
he  came  to  Ireland,  and  many  of  the  native  chiefs 
regarded  him  as  coming  to  protect  them  from  the 
cruelties  of  the  first  invaders.  He  landed  at  Water- 
ford,  and  most  of  the  southern  princes,  seeing  no 
hope  of  adequate  resistance  under  the  lead  of  the 
incapable  Roderick  O'Connor,  came  and  paid  him 
their  homage.  Among  these  were  the  Kings  of 
Thomond  and  Desmond,  and  the  princes  of  Decies, 
of  Ossory,  and  of  Breffny,  as  well  as  O' Carroll  of 
Oriel,  and  lesser  chiefs.  It  is  alleged  that  even 


HOW  MACMURROUGH  BROUGHT  THE  ENGLISH  OVER.   63 

High- King  Roderick  reluctantly  admitted  his  authority 
The  Northern  chiefs,  the  O'Neills  and  O'Donnells, 
alone  refused  to  acknowledge  him  as  their  liege  lord 

In  order  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  Irish,  Henry 
threw  into  prison  the  savage  Fitzstephen  for  a  time, 
releasing  him  afterwards.  He  proceeded  to  parcel 
out  the  country  amongst  his  faithful  barons  "as  if 
he  had  conquered  it  by  force  of  arms."  Strongbow, 
of  course,  was  given  Leinster,  Meath  was  given  to 
one  Hugh  de  I/acy,  Ulster  to  John  De  Courcy, 
Connaught  to  De  Burgho.  Milo  de  Cogan  and 
Fitzstephen  got  Cork.  Henry,  nevertheless,  it  is 
stated,  made  no  attempt  to  have  himself  recognised  as 
"  King  of  Ireland  "  by  the  Irish,  but  merely  posed 
as  an  arbitrator  He  certainly  restored  something 
like  peace  and  order  in  the  land  during  his  six 
months'  stay,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was  recalled 
to  England  to  answer  to  the  papal  legate  for  the 
murder  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket,  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  and  by  rumours  of  a  rebellion  organised 
against  him  by  his  sons. 

He  left  the  government  of  affairs  in  the  hands  of 
Hugh  de  I/acy,  departing  from  Wexford  on  April 
I7th,  1172. 

No  sooner  was  he  gone  than  the  Norman  ad- 
venturers began  to  plunder  right  and  left,  and  the 
native  chiefs  took  up  arms  to  resist  their  encroachments 
and  enormities.  Dermot  the  Traitor's  son,  Donald, 
disputed  Strongbow's  claim  to  the  kingdom  of 
lyeinster,  but  was  treacherously  put  to  death. 
The  O'Dempseys  waylaid  and  routed  some  of 
Strongbow's  men,  and  O'Brien  of  lyimerick  defeated 


64  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

the  redoubtable  Norman  himself  at  Thurles 
Strongbow  escaped  by  the  swiftness  of  his  horse  with 
only  a  few  men,  leaving  1,700  more  dead  upon  the 
field. 

On  this,  High- King  Roderick  took  heart  of  grace 
and  seized  Trim,  but  Raymond  the  Fat  and  De  Cogan 
stormed  Limerick,  and  found  one  MacCarthy  ready 
to  help  them  against  another.  Meantime  Strongbow 
died  of  an  ulcer  in  the  foot  spreading  upwards 
over  his  body.  Prince  John  of  England  now  visited 
Ireland  and  treated  the  Irish  chiefs,  who  came  to 
see  him,  with  the  utmost  contumely.  But  he  treated 
his  Norman  adherents  no  better  He  ordered  castles 
to  be  built  at  Limerick,  Lismore  and  other  places. 
The  Irish  vigorously  attacked  these  strongholds,  and 
captured  them,  and  John,  well  named  "  Lackland," 
afterwards,  when  left  Ireland  as  his  patrimony,  was 
recalled  by  his  father. 

Roderick  O'Connor  retired  in  his  old  age  to  the 
abbey  of  Cong,  and  there  ended  his  days  ;  and  during 
the  whole  of  the  next  century  the  history  of  Ireland 
may  be  summed  up  in  one  ceaseless  struggle  between 
Anglo-Norman  and  Native  Irish  without  either  side 
gaining  much  advantage.  The  Irish  defeated  the 
English  quite  as  often  as  the  reverse,  and  had  the  native 
chiefs  only  united  and  sunk  their  own  miserable  jeal- 
ousies of  one  another,  they  could  have  swept  all  the 
vaunted  mail-clad  chivalry  of  the  invader  into  the  sea, 
again  and  again.  But  alas,  they  would  not  combine 
or  drop  their  wretched  squabbling,  and  we  find  even 
the  two  grand  northern  clans  which  up  to  the  last 
maintained  their  independence,  the  O'Neills  and 


HOW  MACMURROUGH  BROUGHT  THE  ENGLISH  OVER.   65 

O'Donnells,   ready   to    fly   at  one  another's  throats  at 
the  first  excuse,  fearful  of  cither's  rise  in  power. 

This  most  lamentable  lack  of  unity,  this  ceaseless 
domestic  dissension  could  only  have  one  result,  that  of 
helping  on  the  English  conquest,  of  practically  riveting 
the  chains  forged  by  the  early  Norman  invaders. 


66  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  BRUGES  IN  IRELAND. 

We  have  said  that  the  Irish  just  as  often 
defeated  the  English  as  vice  vasa.  Milo  de  Cogan, 
who  invaded  Connaught  in  the  lifetime  of  the  High- 
King  Roderick  O'Connor,  to  help  Roderick's  rebellious 
son  Morrough  against  his  father,  was  most  signally 
defeated,  utterly  routed  by  the  High-King  and  the 
true  Connaughtmen  ;  and, — let  us  give  the  last  High- 
King  of  Erin  his  due, — though  he  was  not  fitted 
for  the  part  he  was  called  upon  to  play,  or  to  face 
the  exigencies  of  his  time,  he  nevertheless  main- 
tained the  independence  of  his  own  native  Connaught 
No  Norman  castle  was  therein  erected,  no  Norman 
set  his  foot  there  for  long. 

The  most  brilliant  victory  achieved  by  the  Irish, 
though,  over  their  English  foes  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  was  that  of  the  noble  and  heroic 
Godfrey  O'Donnell  in  1257.  The  O'Donnells, 
or  Clan-Conal  of  Tyrconnell,  had  so  often  repulsed  the 
English  attempts  at  the  invasion  of  their  territory 
that  they  had  come  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  grand 
bulwark  of  Irish  liberty  and  a  standing  and 
terrible  menace  to  the  entire  English  colony.  It 
was  decided  to  make  a  joint  effort  to  crush  them, 


THE  BRUGES  IN  IRELAND.  67 

and  to  this  end  the  Viceroy  and  his  Lord  Deputy  or 
Lord  Justice,  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  the  first  Earl  of 
Desmond,  assembled  the  biggest  and  finest  English 
army  that  had  yet  mustered  in  one  place  on  Irish  soil. 
Knights  and  squires  and  men-at-arms,  horse  and 
men  sheathed  in  complete  steel  mail  of  proof, 
marched  to  the  muster  from  every  Norman  castle  and 
settlement  in  the  country.  The  far-famed  and 
deservedly  dreaded  English  bowmen  flocked  also  to 
the  rendezvous ;  and  the  march  on  the  devoted 
O'Donnells  was  begun. 

The  chiejf  of  the  clan,  the  Prince  of  Tyrconnell, 
Godfrey  O'Donnell,  "  was  in  fact  one  of  the  most  skilful 
captains  of  the  age."  It  was  the  weight  of  his  arm 
that  the  English  had  already  so  often  felt  and  feared 
so  much.  He  and  his  faithful  clansmen  met 
Fitzgerald's  proud  host  at  Credan  Kille  or  Drumcliff 
in  Sligo,  and  the  battle  lasted  for  hours.  It  was  most 
stubbornly  contested  on  both  sides.  The  mail-clad 
chivalry  of  the  Normans  hurled  itself  again  and  again, 
lances  in  rest,  upon  the  "  saffron-kilted  Irish  clansmen," 
who,  however,  met  the  living  avalanche  of  blood  and 
iron  with  a  steady  front  of  spears,  from  which  it  recoiled 
broken  and  disordered. 

Then  the  few  Irish  horse  and  battle-axemen  got  in 
amongst  the  deadly  English  archers  while  these  were 
stringing  their  bows,  and  cut  them  to  pieces,  wheeling 
then  upon  the  mail-clad  knights  and  men-at-arms  as 
these  reeled  back  from  the  shock  of  the  spears,  and 
completing  the  rout.  Archer  and  mail-clad  horseman 
fled,  intermingled  in  utter  confusion,  from  that  fatal 
field,  pursued  by  the  swift-galloping  light  Irish  horse, 


68  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

the  nimble-footed  kerne  and  heavy-armed  gallow- 
glass.  Fitzgerald,  seeing  the  day  lost,  disdaining 
flight,  rushed  into  the  thick  of  the  fighting  in  search 
of  the  Irish  prince.  The  two  met.  Fitzgerald  hewed 
at  Godfrey  and  dealt  him  a  mortal  wound.  But, 
retaining  his  seat  upon  his  horse — notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  at  this  date  and  for  three  centuries  after 
it,  the  same  as  long  anterior  to  it,  the  Irish  rode 
without  stirrups, — the  Tyrconnell  chief  felled  the 
Lord  Deputy  from  his  saddle,  bleeding  and  dying 
also,  with  a  swinging  stroke  of  his  battle-axe. 

The  O'Donnells    pursued   the   English  to   Sligo    and 
plundered      and     burned     that     town,     night     alone 
intervening  to  save    the  survivors  from    utter    exter 
mination. 

Lord  Fitzgerald  retired  to  a  Franciscan  monastery 
at  Youghal  where  he  died  in  the  habit  of  a  monk. 
His  conqueror,  also  dying,  was  unable  to  follow  up 
the  great  triumph.  Nevertheless  he  forthwith  marched 
to  demolish  "  the  only  castle  the  English  had  dared  to 
raise  on  the  soil  of  Tyrconnell."  This  was  accom- 
plished ;  and  now  we  have  to  record,  to  our  sorrow  and 
the  lasting  disgrace  of  the  O'Neill  of  that  day,  that 
this  chief  thought  it  a  favourable  opportunity  to  fall 
upon  the  O'Donnells,  wearied  and  worn  and  disordered 
as  they  were  after  their  fierce  fight,  and  destroy 
them.  The  heroic  Godfrey,  feeling  death  strong  upon 
him,  ordered  his  men  to  place  him  upon  his  bed  or  bier 
and  carry  him  in  their  midst  to  do  battle  with  the 
dastard  O'Neill. 

Fortune  favoured  the  true  and  brave.  The  men 
of  Tyrconnell  routed  their  ungenerous  foes  of 


THE  BRUGES  IN  IRELAND  69 

Tyrowen,  and  the  great  Godfrey  lived  long  enough 
to  learn  of  the  fate  of  the  day,  then  expired  upon  his 
litter,  to  the  inconsolable  grief  of  his  victorious 
clansmen. 

This  O'Neill  the  following  year  caused  himself  to  be 
proclaimed  High-King  of  Ireland,  but  his  conduct 
towards  the  heroic  Godfrey  O'Donnell  is  proof  that 
he  was  unworthy  of  the  title  or  of  support  by  his 
fellow  Irishmen.  He  may  have  repented  of  his  folly 
and  meant  well,  but  he  had  made  a  very  bad  beginning  ; 
and,  as  it  happened,  his  military  talents  too  were  not 
equal  to  the  task.  He  was  defeated  and  killed  at 
Downpatrick  in  1260. 

The  next  episode  of  Irish  history  of  any  note  was 
the  gallant  effort  of  the  Bruces  and  the  Scots  to 
free  Ireland.  In  1314,  the  great  victory  of  Bannockburn 
by  King  Robert  Bruce  of  Scotland  over  a  vastly 
superior  force  of  English  under  the  incompetent 
Edward  II.,  put  the  idea  into  the  mind  of  Donald 
O'Neill,  a  truly  noble  specimen  of  his  race,  of  seeking 
the  aid  of  the  gallant,  lion-hearted  Scottish  monarch 
to  achieve  Irish  independence. 

Donald  was  the  son  of  the  last  Ard-Righ  or  High- 
King,  Brian  O'Neill,  for  in  spite  of  all  the  incessant 
turmoil,  Ireland  still  had  her  High-Kings,  and  they 
were,  more  or  less,  recognised  by  both  Irish  chiefs 
and  the  English  colonists.  As  heir  or  next  in 
succession  to  the  Ard-Righ's  throne,  the  generous 
Donald  offered  to  forego  his  right  in  favour  of  King 
Robert's  brother,  Edward  Bruce,  and  he  furthermore 
exerted  himself  to  bring  all  the  Irish  clans  to  amity  and 
union,  and  called  on  all  the  clergy  to  help  him  in  this. 


70  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

He  also  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Pope  John  XXII, 
giving  a  detailed  account  of  Irish  grievances  against 
the  English,  stating  that  he  had  no  hope  of  getting 
justice  from  England  and  he  had  in  consequence 
invited  Edward  Bruce,  brother  of  King  Robert  of 
Scotland,  to  come  and  reign  over  them,  and  imploring 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff's  blessing  and  support.  The 
Pope  thought  to  solve  the  difficulty  by  simply  urging 
upon  the  English  King  the  necessity  of  treating  the 
Irish  with  more  justice. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  at  that  day  it  was 
reckoned  no  crime  for  an  Englishman  to  kill  an 
Irishman  in  any  way,  and  quite  a  laudable  thing  for 
the  English  to  break  treaties  with  the  natives,  to 
commit  the  most  flagrant  cruelties,  robberies  and 
outrages,  without  the  latter  having  any  hope  of  redress 
save  by  retaliation. 

Needless,  perhaps  to  say,  the  Irish  chiefs  did  not  all 
respond  to  O'Neill's  patriotic  appeal,  though  they 
had  not  the  excuse  of  alleging  in  the  circumstances 
that  he  had  his  own  purposes  to  serve.  As  for  the 
bishops  and  priests,  they  "  were  so  cowed  that  they 
were  afraid  even  to  complain  "  against  English  tyranny. 
According  to  Dr.  D' Alton  :  "  Monks  of  Irish  birth 
were  excluded  from  those  establishments  which  their 
own  countrymen  had  built  and  endowed." 

The  Bruces,  however,  responded,  and  in  May,  1315, 
Edward  Bruce  landed  at  Larne  in  Antrim  with  6,000 
men,  "  well  armed  in  the  English  fashion."  How 
foolish,  too,  was  it  of  the  Irish  to  keep  to  their 
thin  saffron-cloth  kilts  instead  of  adopting  the  iron 
panoply  that  made  their  Norman  foes  so  invincible, 


THE  BRUGES  IN  IRELAND.  71 

to  say  nothing  of  adopting  the  superior  arms  of  the 
latter  !  A  man  on  horseback  could  never  hope  to  deal 
so  effective  a  blow  with  sword  or  axe  without  stirrups 
as  with.  Rising  in  and  supported  by  stirrups,  far 
greater  vigour  is  given  to  a  blow. 

But  no,  the  Irish  would  keep  to  old  ideas  and — 
lost  their  freedom  through  their  obstinate  conservatism. 

A  fleet  of  300  ships  brought  over  Bruce's  army,  and  to 
those  that  looked  upon  the  noble  sight  which  they 
must  have  presented  in  Larne  Harbour  it  must 
have  seemed  that  a  brighter  day  had  at  last 
dawned  for  Ireland — that  indeed  it  was  the  sunburst 
of  freedom,  after  all  the  darkness  of  the  past  two 
centuries  and  a  half.  Alas,  how  soon  were  those 
bright  hopes  to  be  dashed  to  the  ground ! 

The  truly  patriotic  Donald  O'Neill  and  a  dozen 
other  northern  chiefs  promptly  joined  the  brave  Scots, 
In  two  divisions,  one  under  the  gallant  Randolph, 
Earl  of  Moray,  and  the  other  under  Edward  Bruce 
himself,  they  advanced  on  Carrickfergus.  James 
Grant,  a  Scottish  historian,  in  his  "  British  Battles," 
says  that  on  their  march  they  utterly  routed  20,000 
Anglo-Irish  troops,  led  by  Mandeville,  Logan,  and 
Bisset.  Carrickfergus  itself  was  taken  but  the  castle  was 
able  to  hold  out,  as  Bruce  had  no  military  engines  for 
its  siege,  and  naturally  was  not  going  to  delay  his 
march  to  construct  such.  He  passed  rapidly  south- 
wards, laying  waste  the  English  settlements  and 
defeating,  according  to  Grant,  "  two  chiefs  in  the 
English  interest  with  4,000  men,  in  the  strong  pass 
of  Innermalam,"  and  capturing  a  great  herd  of 
cattle. 


72  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Dundalk  and  Ardee  now  fell  into  his  hands  and  were 
burned.  Richard  De  Burgh,  the  Red  Earl  of  Ulster, 
along  with  some  of  the  factious  Irish  chiefs  of 
Connaught,  joined  forces  to  oppose  him  with  the 
Viceroy,  Sir  Edmund  Butler  However,  Butler  and 
De  Burgh  parted,  and  the  latter  alone  advanced  to 
meet  Bruce.  Acting  under  the  wise  Donald  O'Neill's 
advice,  Bruce  retreated  and  then  resorted  to  a  ruse, 
for  the  Red  Earl's  force  was  vastly  superior  to  his. 

He  quietly  drew  all  his  men  out  of  his  camp  at 
Ballymena,  leaving  the  fires  burning,  the  banners 
flying  and  the  tents  standing,  and  making  a  circuit, 
attacked  the  English  in  flank.  "  De  Burgh's  army  was 
swept  off  the  field  by  the  headlong  and  irresistible 
onslaught  of  the  Scots  and  Irish  clansmen,  his  best 
soldiers  were  killed,  his  bravest  knights  were  among 
the  slain,  his  brother  William  was  taken  prisoner." 

The  victorious  Scoto-Irish  army  marched  on 
steadily  southward.  All  Ulster  was  now  in  their  hands, 
save  only  Carrickfergus  Castle.  At  Kells,  Sir  Roger 
Mortimer  attempted  to  check  them  with  15,000  men. 
They  swept  this  force  out  of  their  path,  and 
Mortimer  fled  to  Dublin  and  embarked  for  England. 
Some  of  the  Norman  De  I,acys  now  joined  the 
Patriots,  the  first  of  the  Norman  settlers  to  show 
themselves  "  more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves." 

At  Arscoll,  Butler  faced  the  Patriots  with  30,000 
men.  But  this  great  army  was  defeated  by  Bruce 
also,  chiefly  through  the  discord  in  the  English  camp 
among  the  Anglo-Irish  leaders.  The  goddess  of  discord 
had  long  opposed  Ireland's  efforts  at  independence  ;  she 
was  now  temporarily  befriending  them 


THE  BRUGES  IN  IRELAND  73 

Bruce  was  compelled,  however,  through  lack  of 
provisions  to  retreat  to  Dundalk  ;  and  there  on  the 
ist  of  May,  1316,  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  Irish, 
he  was  formally  crowned  King  of  Ireland  under  the 
title  of  Edward  I 

Fickle  Fortune  seemed  to  turn  against  the  brave 
Bruce  immediately  after.  He  and  his  Irish  allies  suffered 
several  reverses,  and  a  particularly  severe  one  at  Athenry, 
where  the  Connaughtmen,  the  O'Connors,  who  had 
declared  for  the  patriot  cause,  lost  8,000  slain,  being 
mown  down  in  swaths  by  the  English  bowmen  before  they 
could  use  their  battle-axes.  The  gallant  young  Phelim 
O'Connor,  Prince  of  Connaught,  aged  23,  was  among  the 
slain.  Carrickfergus  Castle,  however,  reduced  by  starva- 
tion, surrendered  to  Bruce ;  and  now  the  renowned 
warrior,  King  Robert  Bruce  himself,  came  over  to  Ireland 
to  aid  his  brother,  bringing  reinforcements  with  him. 

Unable  to  blockade  Dublin  for  lack  of  ships,  the  two 
royal  brothers  marched  into  Munster,  where  they  met 
no  opposition — nor  any  support,  the  factious  and 
unpatriotic  O'Brien  and  other  chiefs  allying  themselves 
with  their  national  foes.  Roger  Mortimer,  returned  to 
Ireland  as  Viceroy,  had  brought  back  15,000  men  with 
him,  and  the  Geraldines,  Butlers,  and  De  L,a  Poer  had 
mustered  30,000  at  Kilkenny.  A  dreadful  famine,  too, 
fell  upon  the  land.  With  no  provisions  and  unwilling  to 
ravage  the  territory  of  even  their  factious  Irish  foes, 
there  was  nothing  for  the  two  brothers  but  retreat,  which 
they  did  through  Cashel,  Kildare  and  Trim,  reaching 
Dundalk  safely.  The  English,  though  far  outnumbering 
them,  feared  to  waylay  them,  thinned  and  weakened  by 
disease  and  famine,  too,  though  they  were 


74  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Robert  Bruce  returned  to  Scotland,  for  his  own  king- 
dom was  again  threatened ;  but  promised  to  send 
reinforcements.  In  1318,  the  dreadful  famine  being  past, 
and  food  once  more  plentiful,  Sir  John  de  Bermingham 
took  the  field  against  Bruce,  advancing  northward  with 
20,000  men.  Against  the  shrewd  counsels  of  Donald 
O'Neill  and  the  other  Irish  chiefs,  the  brave  but  head- 
strong King  Edward  dared  to  give  battle  with  a  force 
little  more  than  2,000  strong. 

The  battle  took  place  at  Faughart,  near  Dundalk, 
and  almost  at  the  first  onset  the  heavy  mail-clad  English 
cavalry  bore  down  the  Scottish  front.  An  English  knight, 
Sir  John  Maupas,  a  burgher  of  Dundalk,  knowing  that 
the  fortune  of  the  day  depended  on  Bruce,  rushed  into 
the  Scottish  ranks  and  slew  him  "  with  a  blow  of  a 
leaden  plummet  or  slung-shot,"  from  which  type  of 
weapon  it  would  seem  that  the  deed  was  achieved  by 
stealing  suddenly  upon  him  and  taking  him  unawares, 
striking  him  down  indeed  by  a  coward  blow,  not  in  fair 
hand-to-hand  fight  as  is  generally  supposed. 

Maupas  paid  the  penalty  anyway  of  his  rashness, 
being  instantly  cut  to  pieces  by  the  enraged  Scots. 


KING  ART  MACMURROUGH.  75 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

KING    ART    MACMURROUGH,    THE    DREAD    OF 
THE  PALE. 

The  death  of  the  gallant,  but  ill-fated,  Bruce  ended  an 
expedition,  which,  as  Grant  wrote,  "  had  it  been  wisely 
managed,  might  have  changed  for  ever  the  future  history 
of  the  three  kingdoms."  Bruce's  head  was  cut  off  and 
sent  to  the  English  King,  who  created  Bermingham, 
with  the  main  body  of  his  clan  to  Tyrowen,  and  the 
Earl  of  Louth.  Donald  O'Neill  managed  to  retreat 
remnant  of  Scots  under  John  Thompson  reached  Carrick- 
fergus,  where  they  met  King  Robert  of  Scotland,  who, 
true  to  his  promise,  landed  with  reinforcements  a  day  or 
two  after  the  fight.  Depressed  by  his  brother's  death, 
King  Robert  returned  to  Scotland,  carrying  back  with 
him  the  survivors  of  the  ill-fated  expedition. 

Once  more  we  have  dreadful  anarchy  in  the  land, 
Anglo-Irish  and  Irish  alternately  fighting  one  another 
and  among  themselves,  sowing  the  country  with  blood 
and  tears,  reaping  the  whirlwind  with  a  vengeance  as 
the  fruits  of  their  forefathers'  mad  behaviour,  and  still 
following  in  those  forefathers'  footsteps  and  continuing 
to  sow  the  wind. 

Edward  III.  of  England,  the  warrior  king,  to  do  him 
justice,  in  order  to  pacify  the  Irish  and  allow  himself 


76  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

more  freedom  and  men  to  prosecute  his  wars  in  France, 
certainly  ordered  that  there  should  be  one  law  for  Irish 
and  English.  But  that  law  was  made  practically  a  dead 
letter  by  the  avaricious  cunning  officials  of  the  English 
"  Pale."  "  The  Pale,"  it  may  be  explained,  was  the 
name  given  to  the  territory  within  which  English 
authority  and  laws  held  sway,  the  word  "  pale  "  meaning 
a  boundary  or  limit.  Compare  paling,  a  fence.  A 
statute,  indeed,  was  framed  at  Kilkenny,  by  which  the 
intermarriage  of  English  and  Irish  was  to  be  treated  as 
high  treason,  and  any  Englishman,  using  the  Irish 
language  or  dress,  or  in  any  way  acting  neighbourly  to 
the  Irish,  should  forfeit  all  his  property  and  be  im- 
prisoned. The  outcome  of  this  most  diabolical  measure 
was  that  the  Irish  clans  learned  a  little  sense.  If  they 
did  not  band  together  and  wage  a  regular  war,  they  at 
least  attacked  the  colonists  separately  on  all  sides.  The 
O'Neills  became  paramount  once  more  in  Ulster ; 
O'Farrell,  Prince  of  Annaly  or  L,eitrim,  "  in  one  trium- 
phant foray,  swept  all  trace  of  the  foreigner  out  of 
his  territories,"  and  the  MacMurroughs  of  Leinster, 
under  their  prince,  carried  their  warfare  up  to  the  very 
gates  of  Dublin,  redeeming  their  name  gloriously  from  the 
stigma  left  upon  it  by  their  ancestor  Dermot  "  the 
Traitor." 

The  career  of  Art  MacMurrough,  to  which  we  have 
now  come,  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  most  romantic  chapters 
in  all  the  romantic  history  of  Ireland.  Art  was  elected 
King  or  Prince  of  his  native  province  in  1375,  when  only 
eighteen,  and  he  married  Elizabeth  Veele,  the  heiress  to 
the  barony  of  Norragh,  an  English  lady  of  the  Pale.  She 
thus  violated  the  above-mentioned  Statute  of  Kilkenny, 


KING  ART  MACMURROUGH.  77 

and  the  English  thereupon  confiscated  her  lands  in 
Kildare.  The  English  Exchequer  at  the  same  time 
stopped  payment  to  King  Art  of  his  "  black  rent  " 
an  annual  sum  of  80  marks,  which  may  be  better 
remembered  as  "  black  mail,"  a  tax  paid  to  the  Irish  on 
the  borders  of  the  Pale  in  order  that  this  might  be 
protected  by  them. 

The  Pale  at  this  time  embraced  Dublin,  Louth,  Meath, 
Kildare,  Carlo w,  Wexford,  and  Waterford. 

King  Art  promptly  gathered  an  army  and  wasted 
Kildare,  Carlow,  Kilkenny  and  Wexford,  driving  the 
English  colonists  terror-stricken  into  Dublin.  Richard 
II.,  King  of  England,  the  son  of  the  famous  Black 
Prince,  was  now  on  the  English  throne.  He  was  so 
much  annoyed  at  the  reports  of  the  contumacy  and 
success  of  King  Art  that  he  determined  to  visit 
Ireland  in  person  and  subdue  the  bold  rebel  himself. 

Richard  landed  at  Waterford  in  1394,  with  a  host 
of  no  less  than  30,000  archers  and  4,000  men-at-arms, 
and  the  flower  of  England's  nobility  in  his  train. 
Instead  of  at  once  tamely  submitting  before  such 
tremendous  odds,  King  Art  anticipated  him  by 
swooping  swiftly  down  upon  the  strong,  walled  town 
of  New  Ross,  then  an  English  settlement.  With  his 
allies,  the  O' Byrnes  and  O'Tooles  of  Wicklow,  King 
Art  stormed  the  place,  "  burned  it  with  its  houses 
and  castles  ^and  carried  away  gold,  silver  and 
hostages." 

The  English  garrison  within  its  walls  had  con- 
sisted of  1,200  with  long  bows, — then  the  most 
dreaded  of  English  arms — 1,200  pikemen,  and  400 
crossbowmen.  When  the  King  of  England  arrived 


78  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

at  the  town,  he  found  it  a  mass  of  smoking  ruins, 
without  food  to  supply  his  army. 

King  Art  wheeled  about  and  hung  like  a  gadfly 
on  the  flanks  of  the  mighty  English  host,  cutting 
off  foraging  parties,  enticing  pursuit,  or  seeming  to 
invite  open  battle,  and  then  ambushing,  entangling 
the  foe  in  morasses  and  wild  mountain  defiles  and 
forests,  occasionally  risking  and  daringly  executing 
flank  and  rear  attacks  on  the  march,  and  surprise 
attacks  in  the  night.  The  autumn  storms,  too,  fought 
for  the  heroic  Art.  The  English  were  buffeted  by 
furious  gales  and  rainstorms :  while  they  could  not 
procure  a  single  article  of  food  for  men  or  horse. 
Art  had  swept  the  countryside  bare.  Completely 
out-matched,  King  Richard  at  last  invited  King  Art 
to  a  personal  interview  in  Dublin,  which  city  the 
English  monarch  reached  with  his  great  host  sadly 
thinned,  bedraggled  and  crestfallen,  humiliated  as  it 
had  never  dreamed  of  being  by  the  despised  "  Irish 
enemie."  Art  agreed  to  a  conference,  and  very 
foolishly  and  trustingly  repaired  to  Dublin,  and  there 
met  Richard.  The  King  of  England,  after  receiving 
him  with  honour,  and  every  attention,  had  him 
arrested  and  thrown  into  prison  on  a  charge  of  con- 
spiracy, but  thought  better  of  his  own  treachery  and 
released  him  again. 

Richard  agreed  to  continue  the  "  black  rent  "  to 
MacMurrough  and  restore  his  wife's  property  ;  and, 
after  spending  Christmas  in  sumptuous  feasting  in 
Dublin,  and  entertaining  right  royally  MacMurrough 
and  other  Irish  princes  and  chiefs,  he  returned  to 
England  "  with  much  honour  and  small  profit  " 


KING  ART  MACMURROUGH.  79 

As  Viceroy  he  left  behind  him  Roger  Mortimer,  Earl 
of  March,  the  next  heir  to  his  throne.  Mortimer 
was  induced  by  the  crafty  officials  of  the  Pale  to 
try  and  entrap  King  Art  MacMurrough,  to  make 
a  prisoner  of  him  by  treachery. 

King  Art  was  invited  to  a  Norman  border  castle  ; 
but,  as  he  sat  down  to  the  feast,  he  caught  the 
eye  of  his  bard,  who  accompanied  him.  The  bard 
had  discovered  the  meditated  treachery,  and,  striking 
his  harp,  sang  in  Gaelic  a  warning  to  his  master. 
"  The  prince  maintained  a  calm  demeanour  until, 
seizing  a  favourable  pretext  for  reaching  the  yard, 
he  sprang  to  horse,  dashed  through  his  foes  and, 
sword  in  hand,  hewed  his  way  to  freedom." 

Justly  incensed  at  this  second  act  of  perfidy,  Art 
never  trusted  his  Norman  foes  again.  Once  more  he 
roused  his  clansmen  and  allies  to  battle.  He  stormed 
Carlow,  a  formidable  fortress,  and  in  the  following 
year  (1398),  gave  pitched  battle  to  the  English 
Viceroy  or  Deputy,  Mortimer,  at  Kells  in  Kilkenny. 
There  were  some  fifteen  thousand  men  on  either  side, 
and  the  battle  was  a  complete  victory  for  the  Irish, 
the  English  being  routed,  and  Mortimer,  the  I^ord 
Deputy,  slain.  Other  victories  in  different  parts  of 
Ireland  came  thick  and  fast  for  the  patriotic  party, 
and  "  English  power  seemed  tottering  to  its  fall." 

King  Richard,  once  more  alarmed,  came  again  to 
Ireland,  landing  with  a  great  host  of  20,000  men  at 
Waterford,  as  before,  in  1399  Art  MacMurrough, 
who  only  had  3,000  men,  pursued  his  former  guerilla 
tactics,  harassing  the  advancing  English  in  every  con- 
ceivable way  ;  luring  them  into  traps,  and  carrying  off 


80  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

all  the  food  and  fodder,  so  that  they  could  find  none  to 
keep  body  and  soul  together.  An  enfeebled  and  famine- 
stricken  multitude  rather  than  an  army,  the  English 
host,  after  eleven  days'  toilsome  and  fruitless  march, 
reached  the  Wicklow  coast,  and  were  only  saved  from 
perishing  to  a  man  from  sheer  starvation  by  being 
met  there  by  three  ships  laden  with  provisions. 

Art,  now  deserted  by  some  of  his  allies,  who  were 
overawed  by  the  martial  array  of  Richard's  force, 
condescended  to  ask  for  a  conference.  "  The  news 
brought  much  joy  to  the  English  camp."  De 
Spencer,  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  was  appointed  to 
meet  him ;  but  the  conference  came  to  nothing,  Art 
proudly  declining  to  treat  unless  he  was  allowed  lo 
hold  his  territory  without  any  homage  to  the  English 
King.  A  French  knight,  named  Creton,  who  at- 
tended Gloucester  at  the  conference,  has  described 
Art  for  us  as  "a  fine  large  man,  wondrously  active. 
To  look  at  him  he  seemed  very  stern  and  savage  and 
a  very  able  man.  He  had  a  horse  without  housing 
or  saddle.  ...  In  coming  down  it  galloped  so  hard 
that,  in  my  opinion,  I  never  saw  hare,  deer,  or 
any  other  animal  .  .  .  run  with  such  speed  as  it  did. 
In  his  right  hand  he  bore  a  great  long  dart,  which 
he  cast  with  much  skill." 

Richard  swore  that  he  would  not  leave  Ireland  until 
he  had  Art  in  his  power  ;  but  though  his  army  was 
now  swollen,  with  the  Anglo-Irish  lords,  to  30,000 
splendidly  appointed  troops,  he  could  not  break  or 
hunt  down  the  Lion  of  Leinster ;  and  presently  he 
was  obliged  to  break  his  rash  oath  and  hurry  back 
to  England  on  tidings  of  Henry  of  Lancaster's 


Strongbow  King  Edward  Bruce  Silken  Thomas 


KING  ART  MACMURROUGH.  8 1 

insurrection  and  desire  to  depose  him.  He  was 
deposed,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  and  ended  his  days 
miserably,  a  prisoner  in  Pontefract  Castle. 

The  new  King,  Henry  IV.  of  England,  did  not  trouble 
Ireland,  and  King  Art  relapsed  into  temporary 
quiescence,  having  wrung  from  the  English  Pale  all 
his  demands.  John  Drake,  the  Mayor  of  Dublin, 
attacked  the  O' Byrnes  of  Wicklow  and  defeated 
them,  slaying  3,000  of  their  number.  On  account 
of  this  service  to  the  English  crown  "  permission  was 
given  to  him  and  his  successors  in  office  to  have  a 
gilt  sword  carried  before  them,  as  was  borne  before 
the  Mayor  of  London.  A  new  Lord  Deputy,  Sir 
Stephen  Scrope,  determined  to  reduce  King  Art  and 
marched  against  him  in  1407.  Art  met  him  at  Callan, 
and  for  a  time  was  prevailing  when  reinforcements 
came  up  for  the  English,  and  the  Irish  were  obliged 
to  give  way,  the  brave  O'Nolan  falling  in  trying  to 
stem  the  tide  of  defeat. 

Scrope,  however,  was  unable  to  follow  up  his 
advantage  and  King  Art  was  in  no  way  dispirited  or 
weakened  by  the  reverse.  He  gathered  another  army 
and  over-ran  the  English  possessions,  capturing  castles 
and  towns  again  in  rapid  succession,  until,  at  the 
head  of  a  large  army,  he  encamped  under  the  walls 
of  Dublin  itself.  The  English,  under  their  Viceroy, 
Thomas  Duke  of  Lancaster,  marched  out  to  drive 
away  the  insolent  intruders  upon  their  domains,  and 
Art  gave  them  battle  at  Kilmainham.  Either  force 
equalled  some  10,000  men,  and  the  fight  was  the 
Battle  of  Kells  over  again.  Art  signally  defeated  the 
Viceroy,  who  was  carried  back  into  Dublin  severely 

G 


82  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

wounded,  while  his  army  was  almost  exterminated, 
the  river  Liffey  at  that  point  being  subsequently 
called  the  "ford  of  slaughter,"  or  Athcroe. 

Why  King  Art  did  not  now  at  once  assault  Dublin, 
it  is  hard  to  say,  save  that  he  was  not  equipped  with 
siege  engines.  But  in  the  demoralisation  that  must 
have  prevailed  within  the  city  after  such  a  defeat,  a 
bold  attack  might  have  carried  all  before  it.  Still,  as 
D' Alton  says,  "  the  Irish  soldiers  of  that  day  fought 
well  in  the  open,  but  had  not  learned  to  capture  fortified 
towns."  Moreover,  Dublin  "  was  well  fortified,  perhaps 
impossible  to  take  from  the  land  side,  nor  could  the 
inhabitants  be  starved  out,  for  the  sea  was  open  to 
them  and  the  Irish  had  no  vessels  to  blockade  it." 

King  Art's  closing  years  were  peaceful  for  the  most 
part,  and  in  1417  he  died,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of 
his  age,  after  forty-two  years'  glorious  reign  over  his 
people.  From  the  fact  that  his  chief  brehon  or 
judge,  O'Doran,  perished  at  the  same  time  of  similar 
strange  symptoms,  after  partaking  of  a  drink  given 
them  by  a  woman  at  the  wayside,  as  they  passed,  it 
is  believed  he  was  poisoned  by  his  enemies. 

No  braver  soldier,  no  nobler  character  than  King 
Art  MacMurrough  Kavanagh,  illuminates  the  history 
of  our  native  land.  He  ranks  with  Owen  Roe  O'Neill 
and  Sarsfield,  and  in  an  age  of  detestable  factionism 
and  petty  jealousies,  to  his  greater  glory  be  it  said, 
"  he  never  turned  in  anger  on  a  brother  Irishman." 
The  Four  Masters  speak  of  him  in  terms  of  lavish 
praise,  too,  as  the  founder  of  churches  and  monasteries 
by  his  bounties  and  contributions,  and  for  his 
hospitality  and  knowledge. 


PART    III. 
THE  GERAIvDINES. 

Alas  for  my  love — my  royal  love — 
Of  the  golden  long  ago  ! 

For  gone  are  all  her  warrior  bands, 
And  rusted  are  her  battle  brands, 
And  broken  her  sabre  bright  and  keen, 
And  torn  her  robe  of  radiant  green, 
A  slave  where  she  was  stainless  queen, 
My  loyal  love — my  royal  love — 
Of  the  golden  long  ago. 

'A  Royal  Love,"  by  EDMUND  LEAMY,|M.P. 


SICKEN  THOMAS.  85 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SILKEN  THOMAS. 

The  brief  three  years'  success  of  the  Bruces  in 
Ireland  had  so  alarmed  the  English  monarch  for  the 
safety  of  his  possessions  there  that  he  had,  in  order  to 
retain  the  allegiance  of  the  most  powerful  of  the 
Anglo-Irish  barons,  created  James  Butler,  Earl  of 
Ormond,  and  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  Earl  of  Desmond, 
and  these  two  great  chiefs  were  made  Earls  Palatine 
over  Tipperary  and  Kerry  respectively.  Within  their 
palatinates  these  two  families  of  the  Butlers  and 
Fitzgeralds,  or  Geraldines,  as  the  latter  came  to  be 
called  affectionately  by  the  people,  were  practically 
kings  in  their  own  right,  "  they  could  make  peace 
or  war  at  will,  create  barons  and  knights,  erect  courts 
for  the  trial  of  civil  and  criminal  causes,  appoint 
sheriffs  and  judges ;  the  king's  officers  had  no 
authority."  (Murphy). 

The  deposition  of  Richard  II.,  and  the  seizure  of  the 
English  crown  by  the  usurper  Henry  IV.,  surnamed  of 
Bolingbroke,  where  he  was  born,  led  to  the  fearful 
Wars  of  the  Roses,  or  Yorkists  and  Lancastrians, 
which  devastated  England  for  many  years.  In  this 
fratricidal  strife,  the  Butlers  took  the  Lancastrian  or 


86  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Red  Rose  side,  and  the  Geraldines,  the  Yorkist  or 
White  Rose  side,  and  the  mass  of  the  Irish  people, 
though  little  interested  really  in  the  struggle,  took  the 
Yorkist  side  also ;  in  the  first  place,  because  they 
considered  that  a  descendant  of  Richard  II.  was 
more  entitled  to  the  crown  than  the  descendant  of 
the  usurper  ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  out  of  love  for 
the  claimant  himself,  Richard  Duke  of  York,  who 
was  appointed  L,ord  Lieutenant  or  Viceroy  in  1449, 
and  endeared  himself  to  the  hearts  of  all,  native  Irish 
as  well  as  Anglo-Irish,  if  not  the  crafty  grasping 
officials  of  the  Pale,  by  his  humanity  and  conciliatory, 
kindly  acts. 

Unfortunately,  perhaps,  for  both  England  and 
Ireland,  this  great  and  truly  noble  man  perished  in 
an  early  part  of  the  war  that  his  claim  to  the  English 
throne  engendered.  Had  he  lived  and  won  the  English 
crown,  how  different  things  might  have  been  in  both 
lands  !  The  Butlers  and  Geraldines  flew  to  arms  for 
their  respective  roses,  and  they  met  in  battle  at 
Pilltown  in  Kilkenny,  where  the  Butlers  were 
defeated.  The  House  of  York  temporarily  triumphed, 
too,  in  England,  and  the  Geraldines  were  in  the 
ascendancy ;  and  Ireland  enjoyed  a  certain  amount 
of  peace  and  quietness,  for  York's  son,  now  Edward 
IV.  as  also  Richard  III.  (Crookback)  the  youngest 
son  of  that  noble  house,  had  warm  corners  in  their 
hearts  for  the  land  that  had  befriended  their  father  and 
their  cause. 

So  amicable  was  now  the  understanding  between 
the  natives  and  English  that  the  Statute  of  Kilkenny 
was  a  dead  letter.  English  barons  and  nobles  married 


SILKEN  THOMAS.  87 

Irish  wives  and  adopted  the  Irish  dress,  and,  as  Thomas 
Davis  wrote  : 

"  Not  often  had  their  children  been  by  Irish  mothers 

nursed, 

When  from  their  full  and  generous  hearts  an  Irish 
feeling  burst." 

Now,  indeed,  did  the  Geraldines  become,  as  the 
saying  is,  "  more  Irish  than  the  Irish  themselves." 
Thomas,  the  Eighth  Earl  of  Desmond,  was  made  Lord 
Deputy  in  1463,  and  won  the  good  opinions  of  all 
except  the  Lancastrian  wire  pullers,  who  contrived  to 
ruin  him.  The  ultimate  triumph  of  the  Lancastrians, 
or  Red  Rose  party,  by  the  defeat  and  death  of 
Crookback  Richard  at  the  battle  of  Bosworth,  led  to 
the  decline  of  the  power  of  the  Geraldines  and  the 
rise  of  that  of  their  hereditary  foes,  the  Butlers  or 
Ormonds. 

The  new  Lancastrian  King  of  England,  however, 
Henry  VII.,  feared  to  at  once  displace  the  Geraldines, 
and  so  continued  Gerald  Fitzgerald,  Eighth  Earl  of 
Kildare — he  belonged  to  another  branch  of  the  family, 
distinct  from  the  Desmonds — as  Deputy.  This  Gerald 
was  known  as  "  the  Great  Earl."  His  brother  was 
Chancellor  and  his  father-in-law  Treasurer.  At  this 
time,  owing  to  the  lapse  of  the  Statute  of  Kilkenny 
and  the  frequent  intermarriage  and  better  under- 
standing existing  between  the  native  Irish  and  the 
Anglo-Irish,  the  actual  English  Pale  had  dwindled 
to  little  more  than  the  county  of  Dublin  and  a  portion 
of  Meath  and  Louth.  The  English  colonists  in  all  other 
parts  of  the  country  were  known  as  "  the  Degenerate 


88  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

English,"  because  they  had  suffered  themselves  to 
become  absorbed  by,  or  subject  to,  the  native  tribes. 

In  fact,  the  Fitzgeralds  and  Butlers  were  now 
practically  Irish  tribes.  Had  the  Reformation  not 
come  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  before  much  longer 
the  Irish  and  Anglo-Irish  would  have  formed  one 
race,  like  the  Normans  and  Saxons  did,  and  possibly 
have  broken  away  from  England  completely. 

Henry  VII.  was  only  waiting  for  the  chance  to 
break  the  power  of  the  Geraldines  in  Ireland,  and  the 
Deputy  now  played  into  his  hands  by  receiving  and 
crowning  Lambert  Simnel,  a  Yorkist  claimant,  as  the 
rightful  king  of  England.  An  Irish  army  was  sent  to 
England  with  the  Pretender,  led  by  Lords  Thomas 
and  Maurice  Fitzgerald.  The  king's  army  defeated 
them  at  Stoke-on-Trent,  and  the  Pretender  was  made 
a  scullion  in  the  royal  kitchen. 

Still  the  politic  and  rather  cowardly  Henry 
continued  Kildare  as  Deputy,  with  the  result  that  the 
Earl  of  Desmond  supported  a  second  impostor,  Perkin 
Warbeck,  but  subsequently  dropped  him.  Kildare  held 
aloof,  but  Henry  was  now  determined  to  change  the 
order  of  things.  He  sent  over  Sir  Edward  Poynings 
as  Lord  Deputy,  deposing  Kildare.  Poynings  assembled 
a  parliament  at  Drogheda  and  passed  the  famous 
"  Poynings'  Law,"  which  confirmed  the  infamous 
Statute  of  Kilkenny,  and  reduced  all  parliaments  in 
Ireland  to  mere  mouthpieces  of  England.  They 
could  make  no  laws  unless  the  English  King  and  his 
Privy  Council  had  approved  them.  9 

Henry  VII.  was  succeeded  on  the  throne  of  England 
by  Henry  VIII,  the  Bluebeard  of  history.  His 


SILKEN  THOMAS.  89 

father  had  reinstated  the  Geraldines  in  power,  and 
Garret  Oge,  the  Ninth  Earl  of  Kildare,  was  Lord 
Deputy.  His  enemies,  the  Butlers,  engineered  matters 
so  well  at  Westminster  that  he  was  summoned 
thither  by  the  King  to  answer  various  charges,  amongst 
others  a  breach  of  the  Statute  of  Kilkenny  by 
marrying  his  two  daughters  to  the  Irish  chiefs  of 
Offaly  and  Ely  and  the  wasting  of  the  lands  of  the 
Butlers. 

Ere  going,  he  appointed  his  eldest  son,  Lord  Thomas, 
as  his  Deputy.  Lord  Thomas  was  a  young  man  of  21, 
and  was  called  from  his  love  of  rich  attire,  "  Silken 
Thomas."  A  rumour  reached  the  ears  of  this  young 
man  that  his  father  had  been  beheaded.  Inflamed  with 
anger,  he  at  once  proceeded  to  the  Council  Chamber, 
accompanied  by  some  of  his  grief-stricken  kinsmen,  his 
guards  and  retainers.  The  council  was  sitting  in  St. 
Mary's  Abbey,  Dublin.  Lord  Thomas  was  in  his  robes 
of  state,  and  before  him  marched  the  mace-bearer  with 
symbol  of  office,  and  the  sword  of  state  in  a  rich  scabbard 
of  velvet,  carried  by  its  proper  officer.  It  was  the 
nth  of  June,  1534. 

"  Way  for  the  Lord  Deputy  !  "  And  into  the  midst 
of  the  Council  stalked  Lord  Thomas  with  a  stern-set  face, 
compressed  lips,  and  gloomy,  flashing  eyes. 

"  Keep  your  seats,  my  lords,"  he  cried  in  Irish,  as  all 
rose  at  his  entrance.  "  I  have  come  hither,  not  to 
preside  over  this  council,  but  to  tell  you  of  the  dastard 
deed  that  hath  been  done  in  London,  my  noble  father's 
murder,  base  and  cruel  murder.  My  lords,  this  sword  of 
state  is  yours,  not  mine.  I  received  it  with  an  oath 
and  have  used  it  to  your  benefit.  Now  I  have  need  of 


9O  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

mine  own  sword  which  I  dare  to  trust.  This  common 
sword  flatters  me  with  a  golden  scabbard,  but  it  hath  in 
it  a  pestilent  edge.  I  return  it  to  you,  and  you  must  save 
yourselves  from  me  and  mine  as  open  enemies  hence- 
forth. I  am  no  longer  Henry's  Deputy  ;  I  am  his  foe  ; 
and  if  all  the  hearts  of  England  and  Ireland  that  have 
cause  to  would  join  in  this  quarrel,  as  I  trust  they  will, 
then  shall  he  be  a  byword,  as  I  trust  he  shall,  for  his 
heresy,  lust  and  tyranny,  for  which  certainly  the  age  to 
come  will  pronounce  him  a  prince  of  the  most  abomin- 
able and  hateful  memory.  I  hereby  cast  off  all  duty 
and  allegiance  to  your  master." 

With  that  he  flung  the  sword  of  state  upon  the  council- 
table,  and  likewise  flung  off  his  robes  of  office,  tossing 
them  to  his  feet.  His  followers  shouted  the  old  war-cry 
of  the  Kildare  Geraldines,  "  Croom  Aboo  !  " — "  Croom, 
a  strong  castle  of  the  family,  to  victory  " — and  also 
"  Righ  Thomas  go  bragh  !  "  ("  King  Thomas  for  ever  !  ") 

The  shouts  were  taken  up  by  the  whole  of  the 
Geraldine  train  within  and  without  the  chamber  and 
abbey,  to  the  horror  of  the  Councillors,  and  Lord 
Thomas's  bard,  Neale  Roe  O'Kennedy,  struck  up  an 
Irish  battle  chant,  to  the  stirring  strains  of  which 
Silken  Thomas  and  his  followers  strode  from  the  place, 
unheeding  the  entreaties  of  Archbishop  Cromer  of 
Armagh,  one  of  the  Council,  to  forbear  from  thus 
rushing  heedlessly  to  his  doom. 

Young  Lord  Thomas,  or  "  Silken  Thomas,"  as  we 
prefer  to  call  him,  was  quickly  at  the  head  of  a  combined 
army  of  the  Irish  and  Anglo-Irish.  He  forthwith 
attacked  Dublin,  displaying  a  vigour  and  determination, 
for  all  his  headstrong,  impetuous  behaviour,  that  other 


SILKEN  THOMAS.  9 1 

rebels  had  lacked.  A  plague  was  ravaging  the  city 
and  its  resistance  was  feeble.  He  captured  it,  but  the 
castle  held  out  against  him.  Archbishop  Allen,  one  of 
Henry's  creatures,  fled  by  ship,  but  the  vessel  ran  ashore 
at  Clontarf.  The  Archbishop  was  captured  by  Kildare's 
men,  and  brought  before  him  at  Artane. 

"  Remove  the  churl,"  he  cried  contemptuously, 
when  the  Archbishop  pleaded  for  his  life  and  liberty, 
and  the  words  were  taken  to  mean  murder  The  Arch- 
bishop was  promptly  slaughtered. 

This  foul  deed  was  Silken  Thomas's  undoing,  for  it 
estranged  from  him  all  the  nobler  spirits  among  the 
Anglo-Irish  lords  and  Irish  chiefs.  The  Dublin 
citizens,  too,  shut  their  gates  upon  him  on  his  return 
from  harrying  the  lands  of  the  hated  Butlers  or  Ormond- 
ists,  and  he  was  unable  to  force  an  entry  again.  He 
applied  to  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  for  aid, 
but  the  Pope  excommunicated  him  for  his  alleged 
complicity  in  the  murder  of  Archbishop  Allen,  and  this, 
with  the  discovery  that  his  father,  Garret  Oge,  had 
not  been  executed  at  all,  caused  many  of  his  allies  to 
fall  away. 

The  English  garrison  at  Dublin  was  reinforced  by 
fresh  troops  under  the  new  Deputy  Sir  William 
Skeffington,  who,  however,  was  an  old  man  and  very 
incapable.  The  rebellion  dragged  out  until  March,  1535, 
the  Butlers  and  the  Pale  keeping  Silken  Thomas  and  his 
followers  engaged  alternately,  by  ravaging  his  lands 
of  Kildare. 

Maynooth  Castle  was  Lord  Thomas's  great  stronghold, 
and  it  was  considered  impregnable,  so  that  he  only 
left  within  it  a  garrison  of  100  men,  of  whom  60  were 


Q2  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

gunners.  Skeffington  besieged  it  with  heavy  ordnance 
never  before  seen  in  Ireland.  On  the  third  day  of  the 
siege  the  north-west  wall  of  the  donjon,  or  keep,  was 
brought  down,  burying  the  cannon  on  that  side  under 
its  ruins.  The  besiegers,  however,  were  not  able,  for  all 
their  vastly  superior  numbers,  to  effect  an  entry  into 
the  place  until  five  more  days  had  passed,  when,  in  the 
final  assault,  sixty  of  the  garrison  fell.  The  remaining 
thirty-seven  were  then  taken  prisoners,  and  condemned 
to  death. 

Lord  Grey  was  now  made  Deputy  in  place  of  the 
incompetent  Skeffington ;  and  shortly  after  Lord 
Thomas  surrendered  on  condition  that  his  life  was  spared. 
He  was  sent  to  England  and  confined  in  the  Tower  of 
London.  The  King  was  wroth  at  his  life  being  spared, 
and  the  Butlers  also ;  and,  in  1537,  the  foolish 
but  heroic  Silken  Thomas  was  executed  at  Tyburn, 
along  with  his  five  uncles  who  "  had  taken  no  part  in 
the  rising,"  and  three  of  whom  had  actually  opposed 
him. 


SHANE  THE  PROUD.  93 


CHAPTER    X. 

SHANE  THE  PROUD. 

The  sole  survivor  of  the  great  and  noble  house  of  the 
Geraldines  was  now  a  boy  of  twelve  years  of  age,  and 
the  English  Government  sought  to  lay  hands  on  him 
also,  clearly  with  the  design  of  extirpating  the  family. 
But  he  had  staunch  friends  who  concealed  him.  First 
he  was  hidden  by  O'Brien  of  Thomond,  who  passed  him 
on  to  his  aunt  in  Cork,  I,ady  Eleanor  MacCarthy.  She 
was  on  the  point  of  being  married  to  Manus  O'Donnell, 
Chief  of  Tyrconnell,  and  smuggled  him  to  the  North 
with  her. 

Henry  VIII.  offered  rewards  for  his  capture,  but 
the  Geraldines  were  now  regarded  on  all  sides  as 
Irish  of  the  Irish,  and  not  only  did  the  Irish  chiefs 
shelter  and  befriend  the  hunted  lad,  they  formed  a  league 
—the  "  First  Geraldine  league  '  —to  protect  him  and 
restore  him  to  his  father's  estates.  This  league  in- 
cluded the  O'Neills,  O'Donnells,  O'Briens,  the  Desmonds, 
O'Connor  of  Offaly,  O'Carrolls,  and  the  chiefs  of 
Moylurg  and  Breffny.  To  ensure  his  personal  safety  he 
was  assigned  a  bodyguard  of  24  horse-men,  who 
accompanied  him  wheresoever  he  went !  After  two 
years  he  was  put  on  a  vessel  bound  for  St.  Malo, 
disguised  as  a  peasant,  and,  accompanied  by  his  faithful 


94  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

tutor,  Father  Leverus,  made  his  way  to  Rome.  There 
his  kinsman,  Cardinal  Pole,  educated  him  as  befitted  his 
rank,  and  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  Gerald  Fitzgerald 
returned  from  his  exile,  recovered  his  birthright,  and 
became  Earl  of  Kildare. 

Henry  VIII.  had  thrown  over  allegiance  to  the  See  of 
Rome  and  taken  the  title  of  "  Supreme  Head  on  earth 
of  the  Church  of  England."  He  desired  to  have  the 
same  authority  in  Ireland.  An  "  Act  of  Supremacy," 
similar  to  the  English  one  was  rushed  through  a  Parlia- 
ment summoned  in  Dublin  in  1536,  but  for  the  most 
part  the  Act  was  a  dead  letter,  Irish  and  Anglo-Irish 
alike  in  the  great  mass  remaining  firm  adherents  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  and  although  bishops  were  supplanted 
and  monasteries  destroyed  by  the  King's  troops,  it 
was  not  until  Elizabeth's  reign  that  anything  like  real 
persecution  set  in. 

Con  O'Neill,  the  head  of  the  clan,  had  been  created 
"  Earl  of  Tyrone  "  by  Henry  VIII.,  but  his  son  Shaun 
or  John,  famous  as  "  Shane  the  Proud,"  contemptuously 
flung  aside  the  Saxon  honour  of  "  Earl,"  and  denied  his 
father's  right  to  thus  barter  away  or  surrender  the  lands 
of  the  tribe  to  the  English  Crown.  He  proudly  received 
at  the  hands  of  his  clan  the  title  of  The  O'Neill,  thrust- 
ing aside  his  elder  but  illegitimate  brother  Matthew, 
who  had  been  created  "  Baron  of  Dungannon  "  by  the 
English  monarch,  and  made  heir  to  the  earldom. 

Matthew,    the  King's  O'Neill,  sought  the  aid  of  the 
English  government  to  establish  his  claim.  The  Deputy 
who  was  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  readily  responded  to  the 
request,    and    invaded    Ulster.       Shane    defeated    him 
and  his  ally  in  no  less  than  three  battles. 


SHANE  THE  PROUD.  95 

The  great  stain  on  Shane's  escutcheon  is  his  inexcus- 
able treatment  of  Calvagh  O'Donnell.  He  carried  off 
this  chief's  wife,  and,  by  many  other  lawless  acts, 
made  enemies  for  himself  in  his  own  camp,  among 
those  who  had  at  first  been  his  stoutest  allies,  such 
as  the  Antrim  Scots  and  the  O'Reillys. 

Sir  Henry  Sidney,  Deputy  for  Sussex,  entered  into  a 
parley  with  Shane,  and  agreed,  on  condition  of  a 
cessation  of  hostilities  against  the  Pale,  to  lay  the  Irish 
Chief's  grievances  before  Queen  Elizabeth  herself.  The 
Queen  first  acceded  to  Shane's  demands,  but  subsequently 
changed  her  mind,  and  directed  Sussex  to  put  forth  the 
utmost  efforts  to  crush  him.  Shane  met  the  Viceroy's 
troops  near  Armagh.  The  Irish  chief  had  but  120 
horse  and  a  few  Scots  and  gallowglasses  with  him, 
"scarce  half  in  numbers  "  that  of  the  English  army, 
yet  he  boldly  charged  this,  and  "  by  the  cowardice 
of  one  wretch  (Wingfield)  was  like,  in  one  hour,  to  have 
left  not  one  man  of  that  army  alive,  and  after  to  have 
taken  me  and  the  rest  at  Armagh,"  to  quote  Sussex's 
own  despatch. 

Shane,  after  this  victory,  entered  and  ravaged  the 
Pale  from  end  to  end.  My  I^ord  Sussex  "bargained 
with  one  of  Shane's  servants,  Neal  Grey,  to  assassinate 
him,  but  the  plot  miscarried.  The  Viceroy  openly  avowed 
to  the  Queen  what  he  had  tried  to  do,  nor  did  he 
receive  any  reprimand."  (D'Alton.)  By  the  Queen's 
special  command,  the  Earl  of  Kildare  next  went  to  the 
recalcitrant  Irishman,  and  induced  him  to  go  to 
England  to  see  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  fearless  Northern 
Chief  trusted  to  the  honour  of  Kildare,  and  went,  on 
the  understanding  that  no  attack  was  to  be  made  on 


96  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

his  territory  in  his  absence,  and  his  personal  safety 
going  and  coming  was  to  be  guaranteed. 

On  the  6th  of  January,  1562,  therefore,  he  went  to 
London,  and  was  received  by  Elizabeth  with  all  honour. 
According  to  John  Mitchel,  he  took  with  him  "  a 
gallant  train  of  guards,  bareheaded  with  curled  hair 
(as  if  the  Statute  of  Kilkenny  had  never  been  passed) 
hanging  down  their  shoulders,  armed  with  battle-axes 
and  arrayed  in  their  saffron  doublets — an  astonishment 
to  the  worthy  burghers  of  Condon  and  Westminster." 
Shane  comported  himself  at  the  English  court  with  great 
dignity  and  such  a  haughty  bearing  that  a  courtier 
described  him  as  "  O'Neill  the  Great,  cousin  of  St. 
Patrick,  friend  to  the  Queen  of  England,  enemy  to  all 
the  world  besides."  Elizabeth,  probably  attracted  by 
his  handsome  person,  gave  him  assurances  of  her  royal 
support,  and  confirmed  him  in  the  title  of  The  O'Neill. 

He  returned  to  Ireland,  but  found  the  English  soldiers 
occupying  Armagh  and  a  new  Earl  of  Tyrone  set  up 
against  him.  Shane  thereupon  threw  over  the  conditions 
the  Queen  had  imposed  upon  him,  and  which  necessity 
alone  had  made  him  accept.  He  ravaged  the  lands  of 
those  Irish  chiefs  who  had  submitted  to  English 
authority,  while  still  maintaining  a  pretended  friendship 
with  the  Viceroy. 

That  wily  statesman,  unable  to  cope  with  him  in 
the  field,  sent  him  a  present  of  wine.  The  wine  was 
found  to  be  poisoned,  the  Northern  Chief  and  those 
of  his  followers  who  drank  some  of  it  being  taken 
seriously  ill.  Shane  now  built  a  castle  on  the  shore  of 
Lough  Neagh,  which  he  called  Fuith  na  Gaill,  or  "Hatred 
of  the  English,"  and  he  forbade  anyone  to  speak  English 


Silken  Thomas  resigning  his  post  as  Deputy 


SHANE  THE  PROUD.  97 

in  his  presence.  It  is  said  he  even  hanged  a  man 
whom  he  saw  eating  an  English  biscuit.  He  now  turned 
on  the  English  wholeheartedly,  attacked  Dundalk, 
captured  Newry  and  Dundrum,  and,  entering  Con- 
naught,  demanded  tribute  from  the  Earl  of  Clan- 
ricarde.  In  his  own  territory  the  Brehon  law  "  was 
executed  with  vigour,"  and  such  was  the  security  within 
it  that  many  quitted  the  Pale  to  live  under  his  rule." 
(D'Alton.) 

In  1567,  having  invaded  Tyrconnell,  he  was  attacked 
by  the  O'Donnells  on  the  shores  of  Lough  Swilly, 
near  Letterkenny.  He  was  completely  defeated, 
numbers  of  his  men  perishing  in  the  river  Swilly  in  the 
rout.  Something  like  3,000  of  his  clan  fell  in  that 
disastrous  conflict,  and  Shane  fled,  temporarily  bereft 
of  his  reason  with  unavailing  rage  and  despair.  He 
foolishly  took  refuge  among  the  MacDonnells  or  Antrim 
Scots,  whom  he  had  treated  as  harshly  as  the 
O'Donnells.  Received  at  first  with  every  symptom 
of  cordiality,  as  he  was  sitting  down  to  the  banquet 
he  was  set  upon  and  simply  "  hacked  to  pieces,"  his 
head  being  preserved  and  sent  to  the  I/ord  Deputy  by 
one  Captain  Piers,  an  Englishman,  to  obtain  the 
reward  of  1,000  marks  that  had  been  offered  for  it. 

In  the  words  of  John  Savage  : 

"  He  was  '  turbulent '  with  traitors — he  was  haughty  with  the 

foe — 
He  was  '  cruel '  say    ye,    Saxons  ?      Ay  !    he  dealt  ye   blow 

for  blow  ! 
He  was  '  rough '  and  '  wild/  and  who's  not  wild  to  see  his 

hearthstone  razed  ? 
He  was  '  merciless  as  fire  ' — ay,  ye  kindled  him — he  blazed  ! 

H 


98  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

He  was  '  proud  ' ;  yes,  proud  of  birthright,  and  because  he  flung 

away 
Your  Saxon  stars  of  princedom,  as  the   rock   does  mocking 

spray. 
He  was  wild,  insane  for  vengeance — ay,  and  preached  it  till 

Tyrone 
Was  ruddy,  ready,  wild  too,  with  '  Red  Hands  to  clutch  their 

own.' 


GRANT; A  UAI^E.  99 


CHAPTER  XI. 

GRANUA   UAILE. — GIVENMALURE. — THE    FAIJ,   OF    THE 
GERAI<DINES. 

While  a  woman  wielded  the  sceptre  of  power  in 
England,  another  was  doing  so  at  this  period  in  County 
Mayo.  This  was  the  renowned  Granua  Uaile,  or, 
as  the  English  called  her,  Grace  O'Malley.  She  "  ruled 
triumphant  over  the  whole  western  coast,  and  was  able 
to  defeat,  in  a  naval  battle,  the  sheriff  of  Galway  and 
all  his  forces,  off  her  castle  "  of  Carrigahooly.  The  last 
warrior  queen  of  Erin,  she  maintained  a  fleet  of  ships 
and  warred  with  her  enemies  both  by  sea  and  land. 

Her  father  was  Dubdaire  O'Malley,  the  Chief  of  the 
Baronies  of  Murrisk  and  Burrishoole,  the  country  all 
round  Clew  Bay.  At  an  early  age  she  had  "  acquired 
that  passionate  love  of  the  sea,  as  well  as  that  skill  and 
courage  in  seafaring,  which  made  her  at  once  the  idol  of 
her  clansmen  and  the  greatest  captain  in  the  Western 
seas."  (Dr.  Healy.)  All  the  O'Malleys  had  been  sailors 
from  time  immemorial,  and  she  in  her  girlhood 
frequently  accompanied  her  father  and  his  sept  on 
naval  excursions.  She  married,  first,  Donal  O'Flaherty  ; 
and  with  regard  to  the  O'Flahertys,  the  people  of 
Galway 's  fervent  prayer  was,  "  From  the  ferocious 
O'Flahertys,  Good  Lord  deliver  us."  This  prayer  is 


100  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

inscribed  over  the  west  gate  of  Galway.  Donal  was 
the  Prince  of  lar-Connaught,  the  Chief  Lord  of  all 
Connemara,  and  so  it  was  a  worthy  match. 

Granua's  chief  fortress  was  a  castle  on  Clare  Island, 
where  was  mooring  for  her  larger  ships.  Her  smaller 
craft  were  kept  at  Carrigahooly,  where  she  had  another 
stronghold  and  usually  resided.  A  hole  was  to  be  seen 
in  the  ruined  seawall  of  her  chamber  through  which 
a  cable  was  passed  from  her  own  ship  to  her  bedpost, 
so  that  she  might  be  apprised  of  any  sudden  alarm. 

Upon  her  galleys  and  bigger  ships  she  flew  the  sea- 
horse of  O'Malley  or  O'Melia,  as  the  name  is  often  pro- 
nounced in  those  parts,  and  the  lions  of  O' Flaherty. 

The  young  sea-queen  went  to  reside  with  her  husband 
at  Bunowan  Castle,  his  chief  seat,  but  they  did  not 
long  enjoy  their  married  life.  Donal  was  killed  in  battle, 
and  shortly  afterwards  her  eldest  son  Owen  was  basely 
and  treacherously  murdered  by  Sir  Richard  Bingham. 
Granua  took  refuge  with  her  other  children  in  Clare 
Island,  and  one  of  her  daughters  married  Richard 
Burke,  whom  the  English  called  by  the  terrible  name 
of  "  the  Devil's  Hook,"  an  attempt  at  translating  his 
Irish  sobriquet  of  "  the  Demon  of  the  Hook,"  or 
Promontory  of  Corraun.  From  Clare  Island,  Grace 
now  descended  with  her  galleys  upon  various  parts  of 
the  coast,  committing  numerous  piracies  in  revenge 
for  the  murder  of  her  son.  The  Devil's  Hook  backed 
her  up  well  on  land,  and  five  hundred  pounds  reward 
was  offered  for  her  capture  ;  and  soldiers  were  sent 
to  storm  Carrigahooly.  They  were  driven  back,  with 
loss,  to  Galway,  after  besieging  the  castle  for  about 
a  fortnight ! 


GRANUA   UAILE.  1 01 

Granua  now  seized  the  Castle  of  Doona  by  stratagem, 
whereupon  the  English  made  peace  with  her ;  and  she 
married  another  Burke  and  chief  of  the  Clan-William, 
called  Iron  Richard,  or  "  Richard  of  Iron,"  because  he 
always  wore  a  coat  of  mail.  In  1576,  Sir  Henry 
Sidney,  the  Deputy,  visited  Galway,  and  the  corsair 
queen,  with  her  iron-clad  husband,  went  to  see  him. 
She  offered  her  services  "  to  me  wherever  I  would  com- 
mand her,"  related  Sidney,  "  with  three  galleys  and 
200  fighting  men,  either  in  Ireland  or  in  Scotland." 
Sidney  knighted  Iron  Richard,  so  that  Granua  became 
Lady  Burke. 

Granua  had  more  than  three  galleys,  each  capable 
of  carrying  60  or  70  fighting  men,  with  thirty  oarsmen 
to  propel  them.  She  built  her  ships  of  the  oak  of 
the  Murrisk  woods.  Not  long  did  she  remain  at  peace 
with  the  English.  Resuming  her  piratical  expeditions, 
she  was  captured  on  one  by  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  near 
Tarbert,  on  the  Shannon.  She  was  released  by  the 
Deputy,  and  later  obtained  her  husband's  pardon  also. 
Iron  Richard  died,  and  she  was  deprived  of  his  lands, 
whereupon  she  set  sail  in  her  fleet  from  Clare  Island 
to  England,  to  visit  the  Queen  of  England  and  obtain 
redress.  On  the  voyage  she  had  a  posthumous  son 
whom  she  named  "  Tibbot  of  the  Ship." 

She  reached  London  in  August,  1593,  and  it  is  said 
that  she  was  in  nowise  dazzled  by  the  splendour  of 
her  sister  queen's  court.  Elizabeth  received  her  cour- 
teously, and  made  her  son  an  Earl,  and  from  him  the 
Viscounts  Mayo  are  descended.  Granua  was  about 
sixty  at  the  time.  On  her  return  to  Ireland,  she 
landed  at  Howth  and  sought  hospitality  at  the  castle. 


T02  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

She  was  refused  it,  whereupon  she  carried  off  the  young 
heir  of  Howth,  who  was  taking  the  air  with  his  nurse 
in  the  grounds,  to  her  galley  and  made  all  sail  for 
Clew  Bay.  Lord  Howth  was  forced,  in  order  to  recover 
his  son,  to  promise  to  keep  open  house  in  future  at 
dinner  time. 

Grace  died  at  peace  with  all  her  neighbours,  after 
her  eventful  and  stormy  life,  and  was  buried  on  Clare 
Island. 

Meanwhile,  to  resist  the  change  of  religion,  a  second 
Geraldine  League  had  been  formed,  and  the  head  of 
the  family,  Sir  James  Fitzmaurice  Fitzgerald  obtained 
a  Bull  from  Pope  Gregory  XIII.,  stimulating  the  Irish 
to  fight  for  their  national  freedom  and  the  old  faith. 
Gregory  also  fitted  out  four  ships  and  put  it  under 
the  command  of  an  English  adventurer,  Thomas 
Stukeley.  Stukeley  sailed,  but  not  to  Ireland.  He 
carried  his  fleet  to  the  support  of  the  King  of  Portugal 
and  fought  for  that  monarch  against  the  Moors,  falling 
with  him  in  battle. 

Fitzmaurice  fled  to  the  continent  and  obtained  some 
Spanish  help.  He  landed  with  his  Spanish  allies  at 
Smerwick  in  County  Kerry,  and  entrenched  himself  in 
the  fortress  of  Dunanore.  There  200  of  the  O'Flahertys 
joined  him  by  sea  from  Connaught ;  but  his  relative, 
the  Karl  of  Desmond,  was  too  pusillanimous  to  rally 
to  his  succour,  and  the  rebels  had  to  disperse.  The 
gallant  Fitzmaurice  with  a  few  men  was  making  for 
the  Galtees  when,  near  lyimerick,  they  borrowed  some 
horses  of  their  kinsmen,  the  Burkes  of  Clanwilliam, 
without  consulting  the  owners. 

These  fiercely  pursued  them.    Sir  James,  it  is  said, 


GRANUA   UAII<E.  103 

attempted  to  explain  matters,  but  they  would  not 
listen,  and  shot  him,  wounding  him  mortally.  The 
heroic  Geraldine  dashed  at  the  wretched  factionists, 
and  with  two  swift  strokes  of  his  trusty  blade,  slew  the 
two  young  Burkes,  then  fell  dead  from  his  own  cruel 
wound. 

The  father  of  the  Burkes  was  created  Baron  of 
Castleconnell  by  Queen  Elizabeth  for  this  service  by 
his  sons,  and  their  widows  were  pensioned. 

John  Fitzgerald,  the  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond, 
now  took  command  of  the  little  band  of  patriots,  and 
finding  himself  pursued  by  the  Deputy  Drury,  he 
turned  at  bay,  became  in  his  turn  the  assailant  and 
defeated  the  English,  who  lost  300  men,  at  Springfield, 
near  L,imerick.  Shortly  after  though,  Drury's  successor, 
Malby,  encountered  the  victors,  and  completely  routed 
them  at  Croom. 

Desmond  himself  now  could  no  longer  hesitate.  Beset 
on  all  sides  with  difficulties,  faced  with  the  necessity 
of  either  conforming  to  the  new  religion  and  betraying 
his  relatives  and  co-religionists  or  of  throwing  in  his 
lot  with  them,  he  chose  the  latter,  decidedly  the  nobler 
part.  He  joined  the  league  and  became  its  leader 
although  he  was  wholly  unfitted  by  his  pusillanimity 
for  a  military  commander.  He  won  one  or  two  victories, 
it  is  true,  or  those  under  him  did,  but  the  Deputy  took 
his  two  chief  strongholds,  Askeaton  and  Carrickfoyle. 

Viscount  Baltinglass,  however,  had  revolted  within 
the  Pale,  inspired  by  Desmond's  tardy  action,  and  allied 
himself  with  the  unconquerable  Fiach  MacHugh 
O'Byrne,  the  great  Wicklow  Chief,  who  was  struggling 
for  an  independent  Ireland  all  through  his  life,  and 


104  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

was  the  friend  of  every  friend  of  his  country,  the  foe  of 
its  every  foe.  Lord  Grey  de  Wilton,  the  Deputy, 
thought  it  a  favourable  chance  to  wipe  out  this  re- 
calcitrant clan  of  the  O' Byrnes,  and  led  a  powerful 
army  into  Wicklow,  anticipating  an  easy  victory  in 
his  overweening  conceit. 

Deep  into  the  mountainous  fastnesses  of  Glenmalure 
the  English  pushed,  although  the  heavy  guns  had  to  be 
left  behind  and  cavalry  could  not  act  on  account  of 
the  boggy  nature  of  the  ground  here,  its  rocky  nature 
there.  No  sign  of  the  "  Irish  enemie  "  was  to  be  seen, 
and  the  march  was  slow  and  painful  on  account  of 
the  difficulties  of  the  defile.  The  sides  of  this  became 
densely  wooded,  and  suddenly  the  vanguard  found  its 
progress  barred  by  felled  trees  with  the  branches  facing 
it,  presenting  a  perfect  chevaux-de-frise  that  would  have 
to  be  hacked  through  with  axes. 

Simultaneously  a  close  and  deadly  fire  of  musketry 
was  opened  upon  them  from  the  woods  on  either 
hand.  Men  fell  rapidly  under  the  leaden  storm ;  all 
was  confusion  in  an  instant,  and  out  from  their  cover 
poured  the  Irish  with  ringing  shouts  of  "  O' Byrne 
aboo  !  "  and  "  O'Toole  aboo  !  " — for  the  two  clans  were 
always  practically  as  one,  ever  staunch  allies.  With  spear, 
and  sword,  and  battle-axe,  they  completed  the  rout. 

Sir  Francis  Cosby,  the  infamous  perpetrator  of  the 
Massacre  of  Mullaghmast,  which,  true  to  our  intention 
of  avoiding  the  horrible,  we  have  not  otherwise 
mentioned,  was  amongst  the  slain,  along  with  Carew, 
Moore,  Audley,  and  other  distinguished  officers  ;  and 
800  rank  and  file  perished.  The  Deputy  saved  himself 
by  the  speed  of  his  horse,  and  the  O' Byrnes  and 


GRANUA   UAILE.  105 

O'Tooles  plundered  the  Pale  up  to  the  very  gates  of 
Dublin. 

Once  again  might  this  stronghold  have  fallen  if  there 
had  been  an  energetic  and  competent  man  at  the  head 
of  the  rebellion,  instead  of  the  vacillating,  timid 
Desmond,  and  the  equally  incapable  Baltinglass. 

The  lion-hearted  Fiach  MacHugh  O' Byrne  was  there- 
after called  the  "  Firebrand  of  the  Mountains."  He 
burned  with  impunity  the  town  of  Rathcoole,  only  half 
a  dozen  miles  from  the  capital. 

The  Desmond  Rebellion  dragged  on.  Ormond  and 
Pelham,  the  New  Deputy,  had  now,  however,  reduced 
the  Geraldine  strongholds  everywhere,  and  the  great 
victory  of  Glenmalure  was  but  the  last  flicker  of  the 
dying  embers  as  it  were.  Nevertheless,  a  more  resolute 
commander-in-chief  might  have  turned  it  to  good 
account,  particularly  as  immediately  after  it,  four  ships 
came  into  Smerwick  Harbour  with  800  Spaniards  and 
Italians  to  help  the  cause,  with  5,000  stand  of  arms  and 
a  large  sum  of  money.  They  fortified  Dunanore,  but 
were  left  to  fight  alone,  and  I/ord  Grey  de  Wilton  had 
time  to  march  from  Dublin  and  wipe  out  his  defeat  at 
Glenmalure  by  besieging  and  reducing  the  fortress. 
Ivife  and  liberty  were  guaranteed  to  the  Spaniards  if 
they  laid  down  their  arms,  and,  as  Charles  Kingsley 
tells  us  in  his  "  Westward  Ho  !  "  on  doing  so  they 
were  butchered  to  a  man  by  such  gentlemen  of  light 
and  learning — such  great  men  of  Elizabeth's  time — as  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  and  the  poet  Edmond  Spenser. 

The  Spanish  commander  was  spared,  and  afterwards 
degraded  by  his  countrymen  for  cowardice,  and  certainly 
he  might  have  done  something  more  than  shut  himself 


106  THE    ROMANCE    OP    IRISH    HISTORY. 

up  in  a  fort  and  wait  for  his  foes  to  come  and  blockade 
him. 

The  aged  Earl  of  Desmond  was  now  a  hunted  outlaw. 
Driven  from  the  woods  of  Aherlow,  where  he  lay  hidden 
for  a  time,  he  took  some  cattle  at  Tralee  from  a  chief 
named  Moriarty,  who,  as  usual,  thereupon  had  to  become 
a  traitor  to  his  country's  cause  and  pursue  the  poor 
hunted  old  man  to  his  death.  The  factionists,  bursting 
into  the  hovel  where  the  Earl  lay,  hewed  him  to  death. 

This  ended  the  Geraldine  rising  ;  600,000  acres  of  the 
Desmond  lands  were  confiscated,  and  an  attempt  was 
made  to  people  them  with  English  settlers,  named 
"  Undertakers."  But  the  attempt  failed,  English 
settlers  would  not  come,  so  that  the  Irish  still  remained 
in  possession  of  the  land,  if  not  of  the  loaves  and 
fishes.  Still,  "  the  might  of  the  noble  race  of  the 
Southern  Geraldines  was  extinguished  for  ever." 

Yet,  as  Thomas  Davis  wrote  : 

'True   Geraldines,  brave  Geraldines,  as  torrents  mould 

the  earth, 

You  channelled  deep  Old  Ireland's  heart  by  constancy 
and  worth." 

A  previous  Earl  Desmond,  defeated  and  taken  prisoner 
by  his  hereditary  foes  the  Butlers,  was  being  borne  from 
the  field  of  battle  on  a  litter  supported  on  the  shoulders 
of  some  of  his  captors,  for  he  was  badly  wounded,  when 
one  of  the  young  Butlers,  riding  up  alongside  him,  taunt- 
ingly asked  : 

"  Where  is  now  the  proud  Earl  of  Desmond  ?  " 
"  Where  he  ought  to  be — with  his  heel  upon  the  necks 
of  the  Butlers,"  was  the  excellent,  if  cutting,  reply. 


PART    IV. 

THE  TWO  HUGHS. 

Proudly  the  note  of  the  trumpet  is  sounding, 

Loudly  the  war-cries  arise  on  the  gale ; 
Fleetly  the  steed  by  Lough  Swilly  is  bounding, 
To  join  the  thick  squadrons  on  Saimer's  green  vale. 

On,  every  mountaineer, 

Stranger  to  flight  or  fear, 
Rush  to  the  standard  of  dauntless  Red  Hugh ! 

Bonnaght  and  gallowglass, 

Throng  from  each  mountain  pass, 
On  for  old  Erin  !   O'Donnell  aboo  ! 

"  O'Donnell  Aboo  !  "  by  M.  J.  McCANN. 


THE  KIDNAPPING  OF  RED  HUGH  O'DONNELL.          IOQ 


CHAPTER  XII. 
THE  KIDNAPPING  OF  RED  HUGH  O'DONNEIJ, 

It  was  a  pleasant  day  in  summer,  1587,  when  a  small 
ship  sailed  into  I^ough  Swilly  and  anchored  off  Rath- 
mullen.  She  flew  the  English  ensign,  and  the  captain 
announced  that  he  had  come  to  sell  some  rare  Spanish 
wines  he  had.  At  Rathmullen  dwelt  MacSweeney  "  of 
the  Battle-axes/'  with  whom  in  fosterage,  according  to 
the  old  Irish  custom,  was  the  heir  and  hope  of  the 
great  O'Donnell  clan  of  Tyrconnell,  young  Hugh  Roe 
O'Donnell,  more  familiarly  and  affectionately  known 
in  Irish  history  as  "  Red  Hugh,"  on  account  of  his  fresh 
ruddy  complexion. 

He  was  a  lad  of  fifteen  at  the  time.  Along  with 
his  foster-father  he  was  invited  aboard  to  inspect  the 
wines,  and  unsuspiciously  the  pair  descended  to  the 
cabin  with  the  captain.  The  door  was  at  once  locked 
upon  them,  the  hatches  battened  down  and  the  ship 
set  sail,  their  bereft  relations  and  friends  ashore  being 
unable  to  pursue  for  lack  of  a  vessel. 

It  was  a  clever  device  of  the  I/ord  Deputy,  Sir 
John  Perrott,  to  kidnap  the  young  prince  of  Tyr- 
connell, and  hold  him  as  a  hostage  for  the  good 
behaviour  of  his  clan. 


110  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

The  ship  took  the  helpless  lad  and  his  fellow-prisoner 
to  Dublin,  where  they  were  confined  without  hope  of 
release. 

In  the  following  year,  1588,  occurred  the  invasion 
of  the  famous  Spanish  Armada — the  great  fleet  fitted 
out  by  King  Philip  of  Spain  to  conquer  England.  A 
terrific  gale  fought  England's  battle  better  than  she 
could  have  done  herself.  The  mighty  floating  fortresses 
of  Spain  were  scattered  and  driven,  some  round  the 
Scottish  coast,  others  round  the  Irish.  For  the  most 
part  the  Irish  chiefs  befriended  the  ship-wrecked 
Spaniards  at  the  risk  of  bringing  the  wrath  of  the 
English  on  their  heads.  A  few  factionists,  of  course, 
butchered  the  hapless  poor  wretches,  or  surrendered 
them  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  English  governors, 
for  the  sake  of  ingratiating  themselves  with  these. 

No  one  perhaps  in  Ireland  did  more  to  help  the 
distressed  Spaniards  than  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  Hugh 
O'Neill,  the  head  of  the  great  clan  of  that  name.  He 
had  been  brought  up  at  Elizabeth's  court ;  was  a  most 
loyal  subject  of  England,  and  had  fought  against  the 
Spaniards  at  Smerwick.  Yet  now  he  was  suspected  of 
succouring  England's  enemies  and  even  of  conspiring 
with  the  King  of  Spain  by  means  of  the  Spanish 
sailors  he  had  assisted. 

He  was  most  indignant  at  the  accusation  and 
journeyed  to  London  to  vindicate  his  loyalty  to 
Elizabeth,  who,  as  before,  was  charmed  with  his  hand- 
some person  and  suave  tongue.  He  returned  to 
Ireland  with  permission  to  arm  and  drill  several 
thousands  of  soldiers ;  but  the  Queen  did  not  give 
him  permission  to  roof  all  his  houses  at  Dungannon 


THE  KIDNAPPING  OF  RED  HUGH  O 'DONNEU,.  Ill 

with  lead,  nor  suspect  the  reason  of  his  so  doing. 
That  lead  came  in  very  useful  for  making  bullets 
and  cannon-balls  later  on,  as  the  wily  Earl  intended 
it  should. 

Two  more  years  went  by,  during  which  the  O'Neills 
were  brought  to  a  high  pitch  of  military  discipline.  For 
the  purpose  of  fighting  against  the  Queen's  enemies  ? 
We  shall  see. 

Hugh  O'Neill  was  making  friends  everywhere,  among 
the  Irish  chiefs  particularly.  He  killed  for  ever  the 
bitter  feud  that  had  so  long  existed  between  the 
O'Neills  and  O'Donnells  by  marrying  the  daughter  of 
Sir  Hugh  O'Donnell,  Red  Hugh's  father.  It  was  only 
natural,  too,  that  he  should  plead  with  the  royal 
favourite  Leicester  for  his  young  brother-in-law,  Red 
Hugh's  release.  Leicester  died  without  being  able  to 
effect  it,  but  in  the  winter  of  1590,  through  the  secret 
agency  of  Hugh  O'Neill,  Red  Hugh,  now  eighteen 
years  of  age,  succeeded  in  escaping  from  Dublin  castle 
with  two  of  his  fellow-prisoners.  A  rope  had  been 
smuggled  in  to  them,  thanks  to  O'Neill's  gold  and  a 
venal  gaoler,  and  by  means  of  this  rope  they  lowered 
themselves  from  a  window.  They  were  met  outside 
the  castle  walls  by  friends  with  swift  horses ;  but 
they  were  missed  and  pursued. 

Red  Hugh  and  his  friends  managed  to  reach  the 
foot  hills  of  Wicklow,  where  they  meant  to  take  refuge 
with  the  "  Firebrand  of  the  Mountain,"  stout-hearted 
Fiach  MacHugh  O'Byrne,  the  Victor  of  Glenmalure, 
still  as  ever  in  rebellion.  They  were  unable  to  do  so 
through  the  exigencies  of  the  weather,  and  were  forced 
to  seek  shelter  with  the  O'Tooles.  These,  fearing  the 


112  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

wrath  of  the  Deputy,  arrested  him  and  delivered  him 
up  to  his  pursuers. 

The  young  prince  was  now  loaded  with  fetters  ;  but 
Hugh  O'Neill  was  not  baffled.  He  employed  his  gold 
and  subtlety  once  more  to  effect  his  young  namesake's 
escape  a  second  time.  On  Christmas  Night,  a  year 
later,  a  file  was  passed  in  to  Red  Hugh,  with  which  he 
cut  through  the  irons  ;  then,  with  two  young  com- 
panions, the  sons  of  Shane  the  Proud,  Art  and  Henry 
O'Neill,  he  let  himself  down  a  silken  rope,  which  had 
been  wrapped  round  the  file,  into  a  sewer  that  passed 
out  under  the  Castle  wall  into  the  ditch. 

A  faithful  follower  of  O'Neill,  Turlogh  Boy  O'Hagan, 
was  waiting  for  them,  and  Fiach  MacHugh  O' Byrne 
was  also  in  the  secret  this  time.  O'Neill  had  not  taken 
the  Wicklow  Chief  into  his  confidence  before,  knowing 
well  that  he  would  succour  anyone  escaping  from  Dublin 
Castle  and  fearing  correspondence  might  be  intercepted. 
The  fugitives  made  for  Ballinacor  where  O'Byrne  lay, 
but  the  night  was  pitch  dark,  snow  or  sleet  was  falling, 
and  in  some  way  they  missed  and  passed  the  spies 
that  the  Wicklow  Chieftain  had  sent  forward  to  meet 
them. 

Red  Hugh  and  the  two  young  O'Neills  were  ill-clad, 
having  left  behind  in  the  ditch  their  outer  garments 
which  they  had  soiled  in  the  passage  of  the  foul  sewer. 
They  felt  the  cold  intensely,  and,  through  missing 
O'Byrne's  men,  had  to  tramp  through  the  wet  snow 
on  foot.  In  the  darkness,  outside  the  walls  of  the 
city,  probably  while  looking  for  O'Byrne's  clansmen, 
they  lost  Henry  O'Neill,  and  this  depressed  them  more 
than  their  sufferings. 


THE  KIDNAPPING  OF  RED  HUGH  O'DONNEU,.  113 

Knowing  that  delay  was  dangerous,  the  others  pushed 
on  all  that  night  and  the  following  day,  until  they  were 
quite  exhausted.  The  snow  fell  fast  and  they  had  no 
food  with  them.  Moreover,  Art  O'Neill  had  hurt  him- 
self by  falling  from  the  rope  into  the  sewer.  Red 
Hugh  and  O'Hagan  had  to  carry  him  between  them, 
and  at  length  the  two  youths  sank  down,  utterly  worn 
out,  under  a  rock  not  far  from  O' Byrne's  stronghold, 
leaving  them  there,  O'Hagan  went  forward,  buffeted 
by  the  storm,  and,  reaching  Ballinacor,  brought  the 
brave  Fiach  MacHugh  and  his  followers  trooping  back 
with  him  to  the  rescue. 

They  were  in  time  to  save  the  life  of  Red  Hugh,  but 
poor  Art  O'Neill  had  succumbed  to  the  intense  cold. 
They  buried  him  there  under  the  rock,  and  carried 
the  hope  of  the  O'Donnells  back  with  all  speed  to 
Ballinacor,  where  he  was  safe  from  pursuit.  Red  Hugh 
remained  in  that  secure  retreat  until  arrangements  could 
be  made  to  send  him  to  his  own  people. 

In  spite  of  all  the  watches  the  Lord  Deputy  set  on 
the  road  and  the  spies  the  Government  employed,  Red 
Hugh  O'Donnell  regained  the  home  of  his  people,  and 
was  promptly  inaugurated  chief  of  the  clan  on  the  rock 
of  Kilmacrenan,  his  father,  an  old  man,  retiring  in  his 
favour. 

Henry  O'Neill  had  not  been  recaptured,  but  had  met 
the  clansmen  of  O' Byrne  looking  for  them,  so  that  he 
too  was  enabled  to  reach  his  northern  home.  It  is 
amusing  to  read  that  on  his  arrival  there  Hugh  O'Neill, 
in  order  to  still  further  throw  dust  into  English  eyes, 
pretended  to  arrest  him  and  throw  him  into  prison. 
Hugh  did  not  keep  him  there  though,  and  his  con- 

I 


114  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

finement,  brief  as  it  was,  was  also  by  no  means 
irksome,  we  trow. 

Smarting  with  resentment  at  his  treatment,  Red  Hugh 
O'Donnell  listened  eagerly  to  the  proposals  of  the  wily 
O'Neill.  These  proposals  were  a  league  between  their 
two  great  clans,  indeed  between  every  clan  that  would 
come  in,  for  the  freedom  of  their  country  for  ever 
from  the  English  yoke.  The  Maguires  of  Fermanagh, 
the  O'Rourkes  of  Breffny,  and  the  MacMahons,  were 
also  approached  and  readily  joined  the  secret  con- 
federacy. 

Red  Hugh  and  Maguire  struck  at  once.  They  laid 
siege  to  Enniskillen  Castle,  which  had  been  taken  from 
Maguire  and  garrisoned  by  the  English.  The  garrison 
was  soon  in  sore  straits  for  food,  and  a  relieving  force 
was  despatched  from  Connaught  by  Bingham,  the 
governor  of  that  province.  The  fiery  O'Donnell  had 
gone  elsewhere  to  carry  the  war,  but  Maguire  was 
reinforced  by  Cormac  O'Neill,  Tyrone's  brother.  They 
intercepted  the  relieving  force  at  a  ford  and  cut  it  to 
pieces,  and  the  place  was  afterwards  called  the  "  Ford 
of  the  Biscuits,"  as  the  English  lost  all  their  food  sup- 
plies, which  included  an  immense  quantity  of  biscuits. 


CU)NTIBRET  AND  THE  YEUvOW  FORD.  115 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Cl,ONTIBRET  AND  THE  YEUyOW  FORD. 

Hugh  O'Neill,  though  his  brother  was  in  rebellion, 
was  still  feigning  loyalty.  His  wife,  Red  Hugh's 
sister,  had  died,  and  he  now  met  at  Newry  Castle 
a  beautiful  English  lady  named  Mabel  Bagnal,  the 
sister  of  Sir  Henry  Bagnal,  Chief  Marshal  of  Ireland. 
He  fell  in  love  with  her,  but  the  Marshal  did 
all  in  his  power  to  prevent  the  match.  Mabel 
Bagnal  was  a  sweet  and  gracious  maiden,  and 
she  reciprocated  the  love  of  the  manly,  noble-looking 
Irish  earl.  Friends  aided  her  to  escape  the  vigilance 
of  her  gloomy-browed  brother,  and  the  lovers  met  in 
secret,  plighted  their  troth,  and  finally  eloped  and  were 
married.  Enraged  beyond  measure  at  this,  Sir  Henry 
Bagnal  was  ever  afterwards  Hugh  O'Neill's  bitter 
enemy,  although  they  were  now  brothers-in-law,  and 
remained  deaf  to  all  the  gentle  Mabel's  attempts  at 
reconciliation.  He  was  so  bitter  a  foe  that  he  strove  his 
utmost,  by  fair  means  and  foul,  to  effect  O'Neill's  ruin, 
going  so  far  as  "trying  to  murder  him."  On  this  the 
devoted  wife  threw  aside  all  sisterly  affection  and  helped 
her  husband  in  his  plans  for  the  overthrow  of  her  own 
race  in  the  land  of  her  adoption. 


Il6  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Red  Hugh  meanwhile  had  penetrated  to  Annaly, 
the  princedom  of  the  O'Farrells — L,ongford  as  it  is 
to-day — and  with  the  remnant  of  that  clan  was  driv- 
ing the  English  before  him.  O'Neill  now  threw  aside 
the  cloak  of  pretence  and  hypocrisy,  and  early  in  1595 
swept  Cavan,  while  his  brother,  Art,  attacked  and 
captured  Portmore  on  the  Blackwater,  clearing  Tyrone 
of  all  English. 

The  two  Hughs,  now  openly  leagued  in  arms  against 
England,  despatched  letters  to  Spain  and  the  Pope, 
begging  assistance  in  arms  and  men,  as  they  were  fight- 
ing for  the  Catholic  faith  as  well  as  nationality. 
Monaghan  was  next  assailed,  and  Sir  Henry  Bagnal, 
O'NeuTs  implacable  foe,  marched  to  relieve  it  with 
i, 800  men.  O'Neill  suffered  him  to  do  so,  then 
attacked  him  as  he  was  returning  home  and  slew  200 
of  his  troops. 

Sir  John  Norris,  an  able  general,  was  sent  over  to 
Ireland  by  Elizabeth  with  3,000  men  He  marched  to 
relieve  Monaghan,  which  O'Neill  was  again  blockading. 
O'Neill  faced  him  at  Clontibret,  five  miles  from 
Monaghan.  A  river  lay  between  the  two  armies. 
Norris  charged  across  the  stream  and  was  driven  back, 
receiving  a  wound  himself,  and  his  brother,  Sir  Thomas, 
the  same.  Under  an  Anglo-Irish  officer  from  Meath, 
named  Seagrave,  a  giant  in  size  and  strength,  the 
English  heavily  mailed  cavalry  next  attempted  the 
passage  of  the  stream.  They  got  across  and  Seagrave, 
singling  out  O'Neill,  charged  him  at  full  speed. 

The  great  Hugh,  though  only  of  ordinary  stature, 
did  not  shirk  the  encounter,  but  "  met  him  in  full  career, 
and  the  lances  of  each  were  shivered  to  pieces  on  the 


CLONTIBRET  AND  THE  YEU,OW  FORD.  117 

other's  corselet."  Grappling  now  hand  to  hand,  they 
fell  from  their  saddles  and  continued  the  deadly  struggle 
on  the  ground,  O'Neill  being  undermost.  Drawing  his 
dagger,  however,  he  managed  to  thrust  it  between 
the  plates  of  Seagrave's  armour  and  slew  the  giant. 

As  the  victor  reeled  to  his  feet,  the  air  was  rent  with 
thunderous  cries  of  Lamh  dearg  aboo !  (The  Red 
Hand  to  Victory),  and  rushing  with  renewed  enthusiasm 
on  the  reeling  English  cavalry,  the  clansmen  swept 
these  back  across  the  stream  into  the  ranks  of  their  own 
infantry,  and  the  whole  English  army  fled  south,  leaving 
their  standard,  the  Red  Cross  of  St.  George,  and 
many  dead,  behind.  As  a  result  of  this  victory 
Monaghan  surrendered. 

Success  after  success  now  attended  the  arms  of  the 
Confederate  Chiefs.  O'Neill  was  the  brain  of  that 
confederacy  and  the  dashing  Red  Hugh  its  sword. 
All  North  Connaught  was  swept  clear  of  English 
by  the  latter,  but  the  brave  old  Fiach  MacHugh 
O' Byrne  was  surprised  by  the  Lord  Deputy  in  his 
stronghold  of  Glenmalure  and  slain. 

In  the  following  year,  1596,  three  ships  arrived  from 
Spain  with  arms  and  ammunition  for  O'Donnell 
and  O'Neill,  and  the  English  now  decided  to  invade 
Ulster  by  three  different  routes.  Captain  Richard 
Tyrrell,  one  of  O'Neill's  officers,  ambushed  one  of  these 
three  armies  near  Mullingar,  at  a  place  ever  since  called 
:<  Tyrrell's  Pass."  The  same  tactics  were  pursued  as 
by  the  O' Byrnes  against  Lord  Grey  de  Wilton  at 
Glenmalure.  The  troops  were  suddenly  fired  on  from 
both  sides  of  the  wooded  pass,  and  a  slaughter 
rather  than  a  battle  ensued.  Only  two  English 


Il8  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

<  oldiers  escaped  alive,  one  who  was  sent  by  Tyrrell 
back  with  the  news  to  Mullingar,  and  the  English 
commander  himself,  Barnwell,  son  of  Lord  Trimleston, 
who  was  taken  prisoner  and  sent  as  such  before  O'Neill. 

At  Drumfluich,  O'Neill  himself  attacked  the  Lord 
Deputy's  army  and  defeated  it  with  heavy  loss,  the 
Deputy,  Lord  Borough,  being  mortally  wounded.  The 
third  army,  under  Sir  Conyers  Clifford,  was  forced  to 
retire  in  its  turn  by  gallant  Red  Hugh 

Portmore  was  now  besieged  by  O'Neill,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1598,  his  old  enemy  and  brother-in-law, 
Bagnal,  marched  to  relieve  the  place  with  5,000  men. 
O'Neill,  Red  Hugh,  Maguire,  MacWilliam,  and  the 
MacDonnells  of  Antrim  disputed  his  advance  with  an 
almost  equal  number  of  men.  Again  was  a  ford  the 
scene  of  the  conflict,  O'Neill  taking  up  a  strong  posi- 
tion at  a  spot  called  BEAL-AN-ATHA-BUIDHE  (The 
Mouth  of  the  YELLOW  FORD),  about  two  miles 
from  Armagh. 

There  on  August  I4th,  O'Neill  gained  a  complete  vic- 
tory. As  the  English  advanced  to  the  attack  they  were 
annoyed  by  sharpshooters  hid  among  the  trees  and 
thickets.  Bagnal  ordered  a  charge  of  his  heavy  mailed 
horse  with  lances  "  six  cubits  in  length."  O'Neill  had 
had  some  pits  dug  and  covered  over  with  wattles  and 
grass,  after  the  manner  of  the  Scots  under  Robert 
Bruce  at  Bannockburn.  The  English  cavalry,  charging 
impetuously  forward,  tumbled  into  these  pits,  and, 
promptly  assailed  by  O'Neill's  light-armed  horse,  were 
thrown  into  utter  confusion  and  routed.  The  English 
marshal  pushed  forward  his  cannon  and  battered  the 
Irish  front,  driving  it  back  somewhat.  O'Neill,  there- 


CLONTIBRET  AND  THE  YELLOW  FORD.       1 19 

upon  hurled  all  his  men,  horse  and  foot,  upon  the 
advancing  foe,  and  in  the  terrific  hand-to-hand  fight 
that  ensued,  the  English  could  not  stand  before  the 
clansmen  of  O'Neill  and  O'Donnell. 

Back  they  were  being  flung  helplessly  when  a  quantity 
of  gunpowder  exploded  in  their  ranks,  "  through 
the  rashness  and  unskilfulness  of  a  gunner,"  and  this 
increased  the  panic  setting  in.  Bagnal,  a  brave  man  if  a 
gloomy  one,  strove  his  utmost  to  rally  his  reeling  troops, 
and,  the  better  to  do  so,  raised  the  beaver  or  visor  of  his 
helmet.  An  Irish  musket-ball  flew  true  to  its  mark, 
and,  shot  through  the  brain,  the  I^ord  Marshal  of 
England  tumbled  dead  from  his  horse.  It  wanted  but 
that  to  decide  the  fortunes  of  the  day.  The  division  he  led 
gave  way,  fled,  and  the  other  two  divisions  were  also 
presently  flying  in  utter  rout,  pursued  by  the 
hurrahing  clansmen. 

With  Bagnal,  2,500  English  rank  and  file  lay  dead 
upon  the  field,  23  superior  officers,  and  a  number  of 
lieutenants,  ensigns  and  sergeants.  The  Irish  captured 
34  banners,  12,000  gold  pieces,  and  all  the  artillery, 
provisions  and  musical  instruments  of  the  vanquished, 
while  they  themselves  only  lost  200  killed  and  some 
600  wounded. 

This  great  victory  of  the  Yellow  Ford  is  one  of  the 
most  notable  of  all  the  battles  fought  on  Irish  soil. 
It  "  was  the  greatest  overthrow  that  the  English  ever 
suffered  since  they  set  foot  in  Ireland,  and  O'Neill  was 
by  the  Irish  celebrated  as  the  deliverer  of  his  country 
from  thraldom." 

Portmore  and  Armagh  immediately  submitted  to 
O'Neill,  and  Freedom  now  lit  her  torch  from  end  to  end 


120  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

of  the  island.  The  Munster  Chiefs,  Irish  and  Anglo- 
Irish,  joined  hands,  and,  driving  the  English  settlers 
and  "  Undertakers  "  from  their  lands,  came  into  the 
confederacy,  to  O'Neill  and  O'Donnell's  great  joy. 

It  was  O'Donnell's  dashing  attack  on  the  rear  of 
Bagnal's  army  that  had  completed  its  overthrow, 
while  O'Neill  in  person  had  charged  its  front  with  his 
horse. 

The  Queen,  thoroughly  alarmed  now,  sent  over  her 
favourite,  the  Karl  of  Essex,  with  an  army  of  20,000 
men  and  2,000  horse  to  crush  the  Confederate  Chiefs. 
Essex,  instead  of  assailing  O'Neill,  marched  into  Munster. 
It  is  quite  possible  that,  aware  of  his  own  shortcomings 
as  a  military  commander,  he  feared  to  meet  the  redoubt- 
able Tyrone  even  with  so  overwhelmingly  superior  an 
army,  and  thought  to  swell  it  by  reinforcements  from 
Ormond  and  the  other  factionist  lords. 

In  a  narrow  defile  at  Ballybrittas,  near  Maryborough, 
the  brave  O'Moores  dared  to  waylay  him  and  slew  500 
of  his  men.  The  battle-ground  was  afterwards  found 
so  littered  with  the  plumes  of  the  killed  and  wounded 
English  knights  that  the  fight  is  known  as  the  "  Pass  of 
the  Plumes." 

Red  Hugh  O'Donnell  defeated  and  slew  the  brave 
Sir  Conyers  Clifford,  the  Governor  of  Connaught,  on 
the  I5th  of  August,  1599,  intercepting  him  in  the 
Curlew  Mountains.  The  English  lost  1,400  men. 

Reinforced  by  2,000  men,  Essex  was  now  induced  by 
an  upbraiding  letter  from  the  Queen  to  march  against 
O'Neill. 

That  wily  commander  proposed  a  conference,  to  which 
Essex  readily  agreed,  and  the  two  leaders  met  near 


CLONTIBRET  AND  THE  YEUX>W  FORD.  121 

Anaghclart  Bridge  across  the  River  Lagan.  The  result 
of  their  meeting  was  a  truce,  and  Essex  returned  to 
London  to  lay  the  matter  before  the  Queen.  She, 
incensed  at  his  not  having  crushed  O'Neill,  sent  him 
to  the  Tower.  O'Neill  made  a  royal  progress  through 
Ireland,  marching  by  way  of  Westmeath  and  Tipperary 
to  Cork,  where,  at  Inniscara,  he  met  the  Munster  Chief- 
tains and  remained  some  three  weeks.  It  was  a  great 
triumph  !  Ireland  was  temporarily  a  free  nation  again, 
practically. 

Elizabeth  now  sent  over  a  very  different  type  of 
man  to  all  her  former  generals  to  fight  O'Neill.  This 
was  Charles  Blount,  Lord  Mountjoy,  who  found  a 
worthy  assistant  in  Sir  George  Carew,  the  Governor  or 
President  of  Munster.  Instead  of  meeting  O'Neill 
in  the  field,  these  two  servants  of  the  Queen  despatched 
forged  letters  to  the  lesser  Irish  chiefs,  asserting  that 
as  friends  they  wished  to  warn  them  that  others  were 
betraying  them.  The  forgeries  were  supposed  to  be 
from  the  alleged  traitors.  In  this  way  they  set  chief 
against  chief,  sowed  distrust  of  one  another  among  the 
Confederates,  so  that  none  knew  but  that  his  neighbour 
was  selling  him. 

Nial  Garve  O'Donnell,  a  relation  of  Red  Hugh's,  was 
won  over  to  the  Queen's  service  either  by  this  means 
or  by  tempting  offers  of  emoluments  and  rewards,  and 
so  was  Art  O'Neill.  Dermot  O'Connor  was  induced  to 
betray  his  kinsman,  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  into  Carew's 
hands.  This  Desmond  was  known  as  the  "  Sugane 
Earl."  The  Waterford  Geraldines,  the  Burkes,  and  the 
White  Knight,  as  the  Chieftain  of  Mitchelstown  was 
called,  also  turned  traitors  to  the  cause.  Desmond  was 


122  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

called  the  Sugane,  or  "  Straw-rope,"  Earl  in  derision 
by  the  factionist  Irish  and  the  English,  as  he  had  been 
given  the  title  of  Earl  by  O'Neill  and  not  the  Queen. 

In  the  north  there  were  other  traitors  beside  Nial 
Garve  O'Donnell  and  Art  O'Neill.  Sir  Cahir  O'Doherty 
went  over  to  the  English  with  the  MacDevitts,  and 
O'Connor  Sligo  turned  his  coat  a  second  time.  Red 
Hugh  O'Donnell  had  overlooked  his  former  treachery, 
but  now,  learning  of  his  fresh  perfidy,  made  a  rapid 
march,  seized  him  and  threw  him  into  prison  at  Lough 
Esk. 

An  English  officer  named  Sir  Henry  Dowcra  landed 
in  Derry,  and  from  there  sallied  forth,  destroying  the 
crops.  Carew  likewise  destroyed  the  people's  food  in 
Munster.  But,  deserted  and  betrayed  on  all  sides, 
the  two  Hughs  set  themselves  back  to  back  and  still 
dealt  telling  blows  against  English  power.  In  this 
stress,  the  two  chiefs  were  cheered  to  learn  that  3,000 
Spaniards  had  landed  at  Kinsale  and  possessed  them- 
selves of  the  town  and  two  adjacent  castles.  It  was 
September,  1601 


KINSAI<E.  123 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

KINSALE. — THE  DEFENCE  OF  DUNBOY. — O'SULUVAN'S 
FAMOUS  RETREAT. 

With  17,000  men,  Mountjoy  and  Carew  besieged  the 
Spaniards,  and  Red  Hugh  and  O'Neill  made  all  haste 
to  relieve  their  foreign  allies.  Carew  was  detached  to 
intercept  Red  Hugh  with  a  force  double  that  young 
chieftain's,  but  the  gallant  O'Donnell,  taking  advantage 
of  a  severe  frost  which  froze  all  the  bogs  and  streams, 
evaded  him  and  made  a  forced  march  that  Carew  him- 
self called  "  the  greatest  march  that  hath  been  heard 
of."  Within  twenty-four  hours  Red  Hugh  covered  a 
distance  of  forty  English  miles,  with  carriages  and 
horses,  crossing  mountains  and  morasses  that  would 
have  been  impassable  but  for  the  frost. 

The  dashing  young  chieftain  reached  Kinsale,  and 
forthwith  started  besieging  the  besiegers,  and  with 
considerable  success.  Within  a  month  the  slower- 
moving,  but  abler  O'Neill  was  with  him  ;  and  the  Eng- 
lish were  in  an  ugly  corner,  hemmed  in  by  foes.  A 
plan  was  formed  by  Red  Hugh  to  surprise  the  English 
camp  by  night,  and  it  was  expected  that  Don  Juan 
d'Aquila,  the  commander  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  town, 
would  sally  forth  on  hearing  the  sounds  of  conflict 
and  aid  in  the  overthrow  of  the  foe. 


124  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

O'Neill  was  against  any  such  attack  and  counselled 
patience  ;  but  Red  Hugh's  enthusiasm  and  impetuosity 
carried  the  day  at  the  council-board.  Then  did  an 
execrable  wretch  named  Brian  MacMahon  send  secret 
intelligence  of  the  projected  night  attack  to  Carew, 
in  exchange  for  a  bottle  of  whisky  ! 

At  a  much  later  period,  viz.,  in  the  rebellion  of  1798, 
Irishmen  had  also  good  cause  to  curse  drink  and  the 
drunkard. 

It  was  a  wild  and  dark  night  the  one  chosen,  and  the 
Irish  army  lost  its  way,  and,  instead  of  surprising  the 
English,  were  themselves  suddenly  set  upon  and 
surprised  by  them.  The  heroic,  if  headstrong,  Red 
Hugh  held  his  own  for  a  time,  calling  on  his  brother  chiefs 
to  make  a  stand  until  O'Neill  with  the  main  body  could 
come  up.  Instead,  the  cravens  to  a  man  fled  and  left 
him.  O'Neill  came  up,  but  could  not  co-operate  on 
account  of  the  intervening  morasses,  and  he  was  now 
attacked  at  disadvantage  by  overwhelming  numbers 
and  forced  to  give  ground. 

The  Irish  of  both  divisions  retreated  in  fairly  good 
order,  but  Mount  joy,  seeing  his  opportunity  in  the  fact 
that  the  ground  beyond  was  an  open  plain,  admirable 
for  cavalry  to  operate  on,  vigorously  followed  up  the 
retreat,  hurling  his  squadrons  fiercely  forward.  The 
retreat  became  a  rout,  and  for  two  miles  a  fierce  pursuit 
was  maintained.  Over  1,000  of  the  Irish  were  slain, 
some  authorities  say  2,000,  a  number  equivalent  to  all 
that  Red  Hugh  had  been  able  to  bring  south  with  him 
and  not  leave  his  own  country  open  to  his  dastard 
•cousin,  Nial  Garve. 

At    Innishannon,  where    the    Irish   were   rallied    by 


125 

O'Neill,  it  was  decided  that  Red  Hugh  should  proceed 
to  Spain  for  further  aid  ;  and  as  Don  Juan  D'Aquila 
had  tamely  surrendered,  O'Neill  and  the  other  northern 
chiefs  struck  camp  and  retreated  towards  Ulster.  The 
noble  Red  Hugh  sailed  for  Spain  and  was  received  with 
the  highest  honour  by  the  Spanish  King,  who  promised 
him  reinforcements.  He  was  staying  at  the  Castle  of 
Simancas,  when  he  was  poisoned  by  one  James  Blake, 
an  emissary  of  the  worse  miscreant  Carew,  in  some  way 
that  has  never  transpired. 

The  gallant  young  Prince  of  Tyrconnell  was  only 
29  when  thus  cut  off  by  a  murderer's  hand.  His  body 
was  interred  with  royal  honours  by  the  noble-hearted 
Spanish  King  in  the  Cathedral  of  Valladolid.  Peace 
to  his  ashes,  the  gallant  and  true  ! 

O'Sullivan  Beare  continued  the  now  hopeless  struggle 
in  the  south  by  retaking  his  castle  of  Dunboy  and  holding 
it  in  hopes  of  O'Donnell's  return.  Its  garrison  consisted 
of  only  143  men  under  his  steward  or  seneschal,  Richard 
MacGeoghegan.  Carew  laid  siege  to  it  with  4,000  men. 
The  defenders  held  out  for  eleven  days  until  the  place 
was  almost  battered  to  pieces  about  their  ears  with  the 
powerful  ordnance  Carew  had.  MacGeoghegan  then 
proposed  terms.  These  were  rejected,  and  the  heroes 
determined  to  defend  the  place  to  the  last.  Contesting 
every  foot  of  ground,  they  retreated  to  the  cellar  and 
barricaded  themselves  there  so  effectively  that  the 
English  had  to  bring  up  a  cannon  to  blow  an  entrance. 

As  the  cannon  exploded  and  the  stormers  burst  in, 
the  wounded  hero  MacGeoghegan  attempted  to  cast 
a  blazing  torch  into  a  barrel  of  gunpowder  and  blow 
himself  with  his  comrades,  foes  and  all,  sky-high.  Weak 


126  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

and  ill,  his  aim  fell  short,  and  he  was  immediately  hewn 
to  pieces  and  the  torch  trampled  out. 

O'Sullivan  himself  was  not  in  the  stronghold.  He 
now,  with  the  remnant  of  his  tribe,  600  women,  children 
and  old  people,  and  400  warriors,  made  one  of  the  most 
splendid  retreats  ever  recorded,  suffering  all  manner  of 
perils  and  hardships  en  route,  fighting  nearly  every 
step  of  the  way,  to  the  friendly  O'Rourke  country  of 
Breffny,  or  Leitrim,  adjoining  Tyrone. 

"  Alone  and  unaided,  O'Sullivan  knew  he  could  not 
maintain  himself  in  Munster  ;  and  he  formed  the  des- 
perate resolution  of  fighting  his  way  to  Ulster."  With 
400  soldiers  and  600  women  and  children,  as  we  have 
said,  he  set  out.  "  His  march  northward  was  a  con- 
tinual battle."  The  MacCarthys  attacked  him  in 
Muskerry.  He  beat  them  off,  as  he  also  did  a  brother 
of  Lord  Barry  at  Liscarroll.  It  was  January,  1603 — 
the  depth  of  winter.  He  marched  through  Limerick 
into  Tipperary,  where  the  sheriff  attacked  him  and  was 
repulsed  with  heavy  loss. 

"  A  vanguard  of  40  men  always  went  in  front ;  next 
came  the  sick  and  wounded,  the  women  and  children, 
next  the  baggage  and  the  ammunition,  and  last  of  all, 
protecting  the  rear,  Donal  (O'Sullivan)  himself  with 
the  bulk  of  his  little  force." 

They  reached  the  Shannon  near  Portumna,  and  not 
having  boats  with  which  to  cross,  they  killed  eleven  of 
their  horses  and  stretched  the  animals'  skins  upon 
boat-frames  they  constructed  "  in  the  wood  close  by," 
eating  the  flesh,  for  they  were  short  of  food.  Pushing 
on  to  Aughrim,  they  were  there  attacked  by  a  superior 
army  under  Sir  Thomas  Burke  and  Colonel  Henry 


KINS ALE.  127 

Malby.     O'Sullivan   and  his  little   band,   of   only   300 
now,  fell  on  and  routed  their  foes,  killing  Malby. 

Through  Roscommon,  by  Ballinlough,  they  continued 
their  march,  with  the  snow  falling  heavily  and  the  wind 
blowing  "  a  bitter  blast."  At  Knock  Vicar  the  pea- 
santry assisted  them,  but  "of  the  thousand  who  left 
Glengariffe  but  a  fortnight  before,  only  35 — 18  armed 
men,  16  servants  and  one  woman — entered  O'Rourke's 
castle  at  I,eitrim."  (D'Alton.)  About  50  more  came 
in  next  day,  and  others  were  found  by  the  search 
parties  sent  out  by  O'Rourke,  while  yet  some  were 
sheltered  by  the  peasantry  here  and  there — chiefly  the 
women  and  children. 

This  retreat  was  "  the  most  romantic  and  gallant 
achievement  of  the  age,"  said  Thomas  Davis.  Haverty 
calls  it  "  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  retreats  recorded 
in  history,"  and  McGee,  "  a  retreat  almost  unparalleled." 
Donal  O'Sullivan  sailed  for  Spain  in  1604,  and  was 
made  Earl  of  Berehaven  by  King  Philip  who  received 
him  with  every  honour  and  assigned  him  "  300  pieces 
of  gold  monthly." 

We  will  hasten  to  close  the  chapter  of  defeat  and 
disaster.  The  great  Hugh  O'Neill  held  out  undaun- 
tedly to  the  end,  and  at  length  wrung  a  full  pardon  from 
Mountjoy  at  Mellifont  Abbey  on  the  30th  March,  1603 — 
a  full  pardon  for  himself  and  all  still  in  rebellion,  the 
free  exercise  of  their  religion,  proscribed  though  it  was, 
and  undisturbed  possession  of  their  lands.  Elizabeth 
died  without  hearing  of  the  treaty,  and  the  son  of  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots  ascended  the  English  throne  as  James  I. 
of  England.  He  had  been  brought  up  a  Protestant 
and  decided  to  "  plant  "  Ulster  with  English  and  Scotch 


128  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

settlers.  A  sham  plot  was  arranged  to  ruin  Hugh  O'Neill 
and  Red  Hugh's  brother,  Rory  O'Donnell.  They  were 
induced  to  attend  a  meeting  at  Maynooth  Castle.  It 
was  construed  into  a  fresh  conspiracy  against  the  Crown, 
and  they  were  charged  with  high  treason  and  cited  to 
appear  in  London  for  trial. 

Realising  that  their  lives  or  liberties  were  in  danger, 
the  two  Earls,  for  Rory  O'Donnell  had  been  created 
an  earl  also — Earl  of  Tyrconnell — with  their  families 
and  friends,  decided  to  leave  the  country.  On  Sep- 
tember I4th,  1607,  they  set  sail  from  Rathmullen  on 
Lough  Swilly  for  France,  bidding  farewell  for  ever  to 
their  native  land,  that  land  for  which  they  had  fought 
so  bravely  and  well. 

This  sad  event  in  Irish  history  is  known  as  "  The 
Flight  of  the  Earls."  With  them  sailed  Maguire,  the 
faithful  and  staunch,  who,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  had 
returned  to  Ireland,  risking  capture  in  a  French  ship> 
to  bring  the  two  earls  away.  The  great  Hugh  O'Neill 
survived  all  his  fellow-exiles,  and  passed  away  on  the 
20th  July,  1616,  nine  years  after  his  flight.  He  died 
at  Rome  and  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  celebrated  his 
obsequies  "on  a  scale  of  grandeur  such  as  is  only 
accorded  to  royal  princes  and  kings." 

In  his  History  of  Ireland,  the  Rev.  Dr.  D'Alton  writes : 
"  In  him  the  Irish  lost  their  greatest  leader,  the  greatest 
that  had  ever  led  them  into  battle  or  presided  over  their 
councils.  Both  Red  Hugh  and  Art  MacMurrough  were 
daring  chiefs,  but  the  former  wanted  steadiness  and 
patience,  while  the  latter  confined  his  efforts  to  Leinster 
alone.  Unlike  O'Donnell,  O'Neill  was  cautious  and 
foreseeing,  laying  his  plans  with  care  and  refusing  to  be 


KINSAI,E.  129 

led  by  impulse  or  passion.  .  .  Had  he  been  born  a 
century  earlier,  he  would  probably  have  driven  the 
English  from  Ireland.  .  .  In  his  own  day,  against 
the  whole  forces  of  England,  he  all  but  succeeded 
and  failed  only  because  of  the  universal  treachery  which 
surrounded  him." 

Henry  IV.  of  France,  the  famous  "Navarre,"  publicly 
called  Hugh  O'Neill  "  the  third  soldier  of  the  age." 

Peace,  too,  to  his  ashes,  lying  guarded  within  the 
Imperial  City  until  the  last  trumpet !  Peace  to  him, 
true  brother,  true  husband,  true  friend,  true  foe,  "  true 
to  home  and  faith  and  freedom  to  the  last !  " 

The  vile  Nial  Garve  O'Donnell,  O'Cahan,  and  other 
traitors  received  the  reward  they  deserved  for  their 
treachery.  Suspected  by  their  English  friends  they 
were  thrown  into  gaol,  where  they  languished  till  their 
deaths — Nial  Garve  for  twenty  years. 

Who  will  say  after  that  that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  poetic  justice  on  this  earth  ? 


PART   V. 

THE  CONFEDERATE  WAR. 

A  nation's   right,    a   nation's   right — 

God  gave  it,  and  gave,  too, 
A    nation's    sword,    a    nation's    might, 

Danger  to  guard  it  through. 
'Tis  freedom  from  a  foreign  yoke, 

'Tis  just  and  equal  laws, 
Which  deal  unto  the  humblest  folk, 

As  in  a  noble  cause. 
On  nations  fixed  in  right  and  truth, 
God  will  bestow  eternal  youth. 

"  Nationality,"  by  THOMAS  DAVIS. 


HOW  OWEX  ROE  O'NEIIJ,  GAVE  HIS  SWORD.      133 


CHAPTER  XV. 
How  OWEN  ROE  O'NEIU,  GAVE  HIS  SWORD  TO  HIS 

SIRELAND  ;    AND  HIS  GREAT  VICTORY  AT  BENBURB. 

The  great  French  historian,  Thierry,  in  his  work  on 
the  Norman  Conquest  of  England  and  Ireland,  launches 
out  into  glowing  eulogies  of  the  long-enduring  struggle 
of  the  Irish  people  to  retain  its  freedom  as  compared 
with  the  exceedingly  slight  one  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race. 

And  yet  perseverance  under  difficulties  and  constant 
reverses  is  supposed  to  be  the  great  trait  of  the  English 
character,  bull-dog  resistance  that  never  knows  defeat, 
whereas  it  is  often  asserted,  as  it  it  were  a  truism  there 
was  no  denying,  that  the  Irish  race  are  not  persevering 
enough.  England  was  practically  conquered  by  the 
Normans  in  as  many  years  as  it  took  them  centuries 
to  conquer  the  smaller  sister  isle. 

Thierry  compares  the  heroic  struggle  of  our  race  for 
independence  against  the  Norman  invader  with  the 
nine  hundred  years'  struggle  of  the  Spaniards  against 
the  Moors.  He  "  calls  the  fidelity  of  Irishmen  to  a 
cause  ever  lost,  .  .  .  the  unconquerable  tenacity  of 
the  Irish,  this  immortal  clinging  to  the  hopes  of  one 
day  winning  their  independence,  one  of  the  noblest  and 
most  touching  things  in  all  history." 


134  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Yet  there  are  mean,  paltry  natures  that  can  see  no 
glory  in  a  defeated  cause,  that  can  see  nothing  to 
admire  in  fighting  unto  death  rather  than  surrendering  ; 
whose  only  idea  of  glory  and  triumph  is  to  shout  with 
the  largest  number,  the  conqueror,  to  trample  on  the 
weak,  to  exult  over  the  downfall  of  the  brave  and  good 
and  true. 

Yet  the  truth  remains  that  in  some  causes,  and  that  of 
freedom  is  one  of  them,  it  is  as  glorious  to  fail  as  to 
succeed.  Success  is  not  necessarily  the  measure  of  the 
virtue  of  a  cause. 

"  Freedom's  battle,  once  begun,  bequeathed  from  bleeding  sire 

to  son, 
Though  baffled  oft,  is  ever  won." 

After  "  the  Flight  of  the  Earls,"  the  entire  six  counties 
of  Ulster  were  declared  forfeited  to  the  English  Crown, 
and  the  new  Scottish  King  of  England,  the  false-hearted 
James  Stuart,  false  alike  to  the  memory  of  his  mother 
as  everything  else,  determined,  as  we  have  said,  to 
"  plant  "  the  North  of  Ireland  with  Scotch  and  English 
settlers,  all  well  affected  in  religion,  and  extirpate  the 
old  Irish  race. 

Every  inducement  was  held  out  to  likely  colonists 
Rich  broad  acres  of  the  fertile  land  were  conferred  as  a 
gift  upon  various  Protestant  bishops,  guilds  of  London 
tradesmen,  and  even  on  Trinity  College.  It  was 
London  tradesmen  who  were  given  the  City  of  Deny, 
of  which  they  therefore  changed  the  name  to  London- 
derry. Many  privileges  were  also  held  out  as  a  further 
lure,  as  if  any  further  lure  were  needed,  to  obtain  colon- 
ists. All  that  the  planters  were  expected  to  do  in 


HOW  OWEN  ROE  O'NEIU,  GAVE  HIS  SWORD.        135 

return  for  these  benefits  was  to  rob  and  murder  their 
Irish  neighbours,  "  to  hunt  down  the  native  population 
as  they  would  any  other  wild  game,"  to  show  them  and 
their  religion  no  consideration  or  mercy  or  tolerance 
whatsoever. 

Of  course,  Court  favourites  and  "  undertakers " 
were  found  in  thousands  to  take  on  so  soft  a  job,  and 
so  was  effected  what  was  called  "  The  Plantation  of 
Ulster."  By  the  Scotch  and  English  settlers  the 
Irishman  was  robbed  of  everything  worth  possessing, 
and  was  driven  into  the  bogs  and  mountains,  and  then 
called  a  robber  or  a  wild  "  rapparee,"  because  he  dared 
to  object  to  such  treatment  and  commit  the  awful  crime 
of  trying  to  recover  his  own  home  and  property  The 
Rapparees  were  desperate  men,  heroic  patriots  all, 
fighting  to  the  bitter  end  against  a  tyranny  that  was 
simply  diabolical  in  its  perfection. 

With  the  succession  of  Charles  I.,  the  down- trodden 
and  persecuted  Irish  hoped  for  a  mitigation  of  the  civil 
and  religious  intolerance  under  which  they  lived.  The 
new  monarch  was  a  kindly  man,  unlike  his  father,  who 
was  empty-headed,  cowardly,  and  cruel.  Moreover, 
Charles  had  married  a  Catholic  princess,  Henrietta  of 
France.  But  the  wily  Viceroy,  Straflord,  neutralised 
all  the  efforts  of  the  Irish  people  to  obtain  the  redress 
the  King  promised  them.  For  his  services  to  the 
English  people  in  this  respect,  he  was  attainted  and 
executed  by  a  decree  of  their  Parliament  in  1641,  and 
there  could  not  have  been  many  tears  shed  for  him  in 
Ireland. 

Sick  of  it  all,  the  Irish  people  in  this  same  year 
determined  to  make  another  bold  bid  for  independence. 


136  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Roger  or  Rory  O'Moore,  a  descendant  of  the  despoiled 
chiefs  of  Leix,  entered  into  a  conspiracy  with  Sir  Phelim 
O'Neill,  chief  of  a  lesser  branch  of  his  clan,  Lord 
Maguire  of  Enniskillen,  Sir  Con  MacGennis,  Colonel 
MacMahon,  and  others,  to  revolt  simultaneously, 
seize  Dublin  Castle,  where  there  were  stored  12,000  stand 
of  arms,  and  other  strong  places,  make  prisoners  of  all  the 
gentry  who  were  opposed  to  them,  and  expel  the  English 
planters.  The  Scotch,  as  a  kindred  race,  were  not  to  be 
molested.  No  blood  was  to  be  shed  unless  they  were 
met  with  armed  resistance. 

To  any  common-sense  man,  this  seems  a  very  reason- 
able and  just  rising. 

Everything  might  have  gone  well  with  the  Patriots, 
for  there  were  only  some  2,000  troops  in  the  country, 
and  these  quite  unprepared  ;  but  Colonel  MacMahon 
confided  the  plot  to  one  Owen  O' Connelly,  who  promptly 
carried  information  of  it  to  the  Lords  Justices  Parsons 
and  Borlase.  Maguire  and  MacMahon  were  arrested, 
O'Moore  and  others  managed  to  escape  ;  and  the  rising 
took  place  on  the  appointed  day,  the  22nd  of  October, 
1641.  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill  captured  Dungannon  and 
Charlemont  Castle  ;  the  MacMahons  captured  Mon- 
aghan  ;  the  O'Farrells,  Longford,  or  ancient  Annaly  ; 
the  Maguires,  Fermanagh.  All  Ulster,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  towns,  within  two  days  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  insurgents,  Sir  Con  MacGennis  taking  Newry 
with  certain  stores  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war. 

The  English  planters  fled  in  terror  from  their  ill- 
gotten  homes  and  lands,  and  spread  lying  tales  of 
dreadful  massacre  and  pillage  and  robbery  by  the 
unlawful,  but  certainly  rightful,  new  owners  of  the  soil. 


HOW  OWEN  ROE  O'NEILL  GAVE  HIS  SWORD.         137 

Sir  Phelim  O'Neill  was  now  elected  as  head  of  the 
Patriot  army,  and  the  Catholic  Bishops  met  at  Kilkenny 
on  May  loth,  1642,  and  bound  all  taking  part  in  the 
struggle  to  bear  "  true  faith  and  allegiance  to  King 
Charles  and  his  successors,"  thus  raising  the  "  rising  " 
from  a  mere  rebellion  to  a  war  in  support  of  the  English 
monarch,  at  that  time  waging  a  fierce  struggle  for  his 
crown  and  head  with  his  own  rebellious  Parliament. 
All  on  the  Patriot  or  Royalist  side  were  called  "  The 
Confederate  Catholics  of  Ireland." 

Meanwhile,  as  was  evident  from  the  Synod  being  held 
at  Kilkenny,  all  I^einster  and  Munster  were  now  in 
arms  also,  and  the  war  was  being  prosecuted  fiercely 
on  all  sides.  But  the  early  successes  of  the  Confederates 
had  not  been  followed  up  with  energy,  and  the  English 
and  Scotch  were  enabled  to  recover  from  the  first  blow, 
and  by  weight  of  better  sinews  of  war — more  money, 
better  arms,  better  generals,  etc. — were  beginning  to 
triumph  again.  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill,  with  the  best 
intentions,  was  incompetent  as  a  leader  and  wasted 
three  months  besieging  Drogheda,  while  the  foe  were 
sweeping  the  country  everywhere,  winning  back  the 
strongholds  that  had  been  captured  at  the  outset. 

The  Anglo-Irish,  bound  by  the  ties  of  religion  if  not 
of  blood,  had  thrown  in  their  lot  with  the  old  Irish, 
but  lyords  Mountgarret,  Muskerry,  and  Gormanstown, 
Barry,  and  the  other  leaders  were  all  anything  but 
capable  commanders.  As  usual,  the  great  Earl  of 
Ormond  was  on  the  English  side  and  had  3,000  foot  and 
500  horse  at  his  back  ;  and  he  had  a  worthy  lieutenant 
in  the  savage  Inchiquin,  an  Irishman  brought  up  to 
hate  his  own  countrymen  and  those  allied  to  him  by 


138  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

blood.  Of  all  the  infamous  characters  of  Irish  history 
commend  us  to  this  Lord  Inchiquin,  an  O'Brien — 
"  Murrough  of  the  Burnings  "  as  he  was  nicknamed 
on  account  of  his  savage  cruelty  to  men,  women  and 
children. 

Clanricarde,  too,  in  Connaught  fought  on  the  side 
of  the  enemies  of  his  country  ;  but  Lord  Mayo  allied 
himself  with  the  popular  cause. 

At  this  time  there  were  a  great  many  gallant  Irishmen, 
as  at  a  later  period,  exiles  on  the  Continent,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  tyrannies  of  the  previous  reigns  that  had 
driven  them  out  of  the  country,  righting  in  foreign 
armies.  Father  Luke  Wadding,  a  patriotic  Catholic 
priest,  took  it  upon  himself  to  go  abroad  and  endeavour 
to  enlist  all  this  splendid  military  material,  these  Irish 
officers  in  foreign  services,  in  the  cause  of  their 
struggling  country,  as  also  to  collect  money  for  the 
carrying  on  of  the  war. 

The  most  famous  of  all  these  foreign  Irish  veterans 
was  the  renowned  Owen  Roe  MacArt  O'Neill,  a  nephew 
of  the  great  Hugh  O'Neill,  the  victor  of  Clontibret  and 
Beal-an-atha-Buidhe.  He  had  left  Ireland  at  an  early 
age  and  was  at  this  time  a  colonel  in  the  army  of  the 
King  of  Spain,  having  seen  considerable  service  in 
Flanders  and  achieved  world-wide  fame  by  the  brilliant 
defence  of  Arras,  in  1640,  against  three  French  armies. 
He  corresponded  with  Rory  O'Moore,  the  organiser 
of  the  "  Rising,"  and  determined  to  take  a  part  in  the 
struggle  of  his  native  land. 

Gathering  together  what  men  he  could,  including 
two  hundred  trained  officers,  he  set  sail  with  three  ships 
from  Dunkirk.  He  took  with  him  also  a  good  supply 


HOW  OWEN  ROE  O'NEIU,  GAVE  HIS  SWORD.         139 

of  arms  and  ammunition.  On  the  voyage  to  Ireland  he 
captured  two  small  English  vessels.  He  landed  at 
Doe  Castle  in  Donegal,  July  6th,  1642,  and  was  received 
with  open  arms  by  his  kinsman,  Sir  Phelim  O'Neill, 
who  now  readily  and  voluntarily  relinquished  to  his 
superior  talents  the  rank  of  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Confederate  Army.  Shortly  after,  other  exiles  under 
Colonel  Preston,  brother  of  Lord  Gormanstown,  landed 
in  Wexford,  and  at  last  things  looked  hopeful  for  the 
Patriot  cause.  But  Ireland  would  have  done  better 
without  Preston  ! 

Owen  Roe  at  once  set  about  training,  equipping  and 
increasing  the  force  put  at  his  command,  which  num- 
bered only  1,500  men,  so  great  had  been  the  defections 
through  repeated  failure  and  disaster.  The  Scotch 
General,  Leslie,  Earl  of  Leven,  with  20,000  men,  all 
disciplined  soldiers,  feared  to  come  to  blows  with  him. 
But  levies  were  fast  coming  in  to  swell  Owen  Roe's 
meagre  little  force.  On  October  24th  the  famous 
"  Confederation  of  Kilkenny  "  met,  and  it  elected  a 
Supreme  Council  of  six  persons  from  each  province, 
of  which  Lord  Mountgarret  was  made  president.  Owen 
Roe  was  constituted  general  of  the  Ulster  army  and 
Preston  of  that  of  Leinster,  thus  planting  in  the  breast 
of  the  last-mentioned  jealousy  of  his  brother-com- 
mander. A  "  General  Assembly "  of  the  lords  and 
bishops  and  gentry  was  also  convened,  and  passed 
resolutions  ordering  30,000  men  to  be  raised,  with  a 
sum  of  £30,000. 

Owen  Roe  soon  gave  tangible  evidence  of  his  military 
ability.  He  met  a  superior  force  of  English  under 
General  Monk  and  Lord  Moore  at  Portlester,  five  miles 


140  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

from  Trim,  in  Meath,  and  routed  it,  I^ord  Moore  being 
killed,  with  a  great  many  of  his  troops,  and  Monk  and 
the  rest  made  fly  for  their  lives  back  to  Dublin.  The 
Irish  triumphed  elsewhere,  at  Fermoy,  where  the  English 
general,  Sir  Charles  Vavasor,  was  captured  and  several 
hundreds  of  his  men  left  dead  on  the  field. 

Disputes  now  arose,  however,  between  the  Irish 
and  Anglo-Irish.  The  latter  were  all  for  peace  and 
trusting  that  the  King,  who  had  no  power  in  his  own 
country  and  was  at  war  there  with  his  rebellious  Parlia- 
ment, would  grant  their  demands  if  they  laid  down  their 
arms.  They  were  deluded  in  this  by  specious 
promises  held  out  to  them  by  Ormond  and  the 
Protestant  Royalists.  A  "  cessation  "  was  eventually 
agreed  to,  the  Confederates  promising  the  King  £30,000 
and  help  in  Scotland.  The  help  was  sent  under  Sir 
Alexander  MacDonnell,  surnamed  "  Colkitto,"  who 
joined  the  brave  Montrose  and  went  through  his  cam- 
paign. 

In  the  following  month,  October  1645,  John  Baptist 
Rinuccini,  the  Archbishop  of  Fermo,  arrived  in  Ireland, 
sent  as  Nuncio  by  the  Pope.  He  brought  arms  and 
ammunition  and  money  for  the  Confederate  cause, 
and  was  received  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm.  The 
munitions  of  war  that  he  brought  included  2,000 
muskets,  4,000  swords,  4,000  pistols,  2,000  pikeheads 
and  20,000  Ibs.  of  powder,  and  were  quite  a  Godsend  to 
the  Patriots. 

Inspired  by  this  valuable  aid,  Owen  Roe  O'Neill 
now  took  the  field  properly,  threw  aside  the  fetters  of 
ignoble  truces  and  other  hindrances  that  had  hitherto 
hampered  his  every  attempt  at  decisive  action,  and 


HOW  OWEN  ROE  O'NEILL  GAVE  HIS  SWORD.         14! 

marched   against   the   Scottish   Parliamentary   general 
Munroe,  who  was  wasting  Ulster. 

The  two  armies  encountered  one  another  at 
BENBURB,  on  the  banks  of  the  Blackwater,  some  miles 
north  of  Armagh,  on  the  5th  of  June,  1646.  Munroe 
had  with  him  6,000  foot  and  800  horse  ;  Owen  Roe's 
army  consisted  of  only  5,000  foot  and  400  horse.  Munroe's 
brother,  George,  commanded  another  force  at  Coleraine 
and  was  marching  to  his  reinforcement. 

Owen  Roe  detached  the  two  regiments  of  MacMahon 
and  MacNiney  to  intercept  George  Munroe,  which  they 
did,  surprising  him  and  cutting  his  force  to  pieces. 
They  then  rejoined  the  main  body  in  time  to  encourage 
it  with  their  success  and  take  part  in  the  still  more 
glorious  victory  of  Benburb.  Along  the  Blackwater 
O'Neill  had  disposed  his  army  between  two  hills,  with 
the  rear  protected  by  a  wood.  The  Scotch  came  on  in 
full  force  and  were  first  faced  by  Colonel  Richard 
O'Farrell,  one  of  Owen  Roe's  most  distinguished  officers. 
O'Farrell  held  a  narrow  defile  through  which  the  Scotch 
had  to  force  their  way.  He  disputed  its  passage  until 
their  artillery  forced  him  to  fall  back. 

The  Scotch  horse  now  charged  but  were  checked  by 
the  steady  fire  of  O'Neill's  infantry,  and  so  excellently 
had  Owen  Roe  posted  these  that  only  one  man  was 
struck  by  the  foe's  artillery.  For  four  hours  O'Neill 
kept  the  enemy  in  play,  wearing  out  his  horse  by  ineffec- 
tual charges,  and  gradually  forcing  him  into  a  narrow 
angle  between  the  Blackwater  and  one  of  its  tributaries. 
The  return  of  the  Irish  horse  from  the  wiping  out  of 
George  Munroe's  force  increased  the  confusion  in  the 
English  and  Scotch  ranks. 


142  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

O'Neill  now  ordered  a  charge  along  the  whole  line, 
and  "like  an  avalanche  let  loose,  the  Irish  crashed  upon 
their  foe."  The  Scottish  horse  attempted  to  break  the 
advancing  line,  but  were  charged  in  turn  by  the  Irish 
horse,  who  threw  them  back  in  disorder  upon  their 
first  line.  Wofully  shattered,  this  was  hurled  back  in 
succession  upon  the  second  line,  and,  sweeping  all 
before  them,  the  Irish  captured  the  foemen's  guns, 
when  all  became  an  utter  rout. 

"  The  Irish  infantry  charged  up  hill  without  firing 
a  shot,"  says  Grant,  "  and  closed  in  with  sabre  and  pike. 
.  .  .  In  vain  did  Munroe's  cavalry  charge  this 
determined  infantry ;  it  threw  back  from  its  face 
squadron  after  squadron,  and  kept  constantly,  rapidly 
and  evenly  advancing.  .  .  .  though  exposed  to  the 
play  of  Munroe's  guns  and  musketry."  And  again, 
O'Neill's  "foot  moved  on  in  steady  columns,  and  his 
horse  in  the  spaces  between  the  first  and  second 
charges  of  his  masses." 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  Owen  Roe's  army  won  by 
no  mere  impetuous  dash,  but  displayed  superior  tactics 
and  a  higher  discipline  than  Munroe's  veterans. 

The  Scotch  and  English  left  3,248  dead  on  the  field. 
Numbers  more  perished  by  drowning  in  trying  to  cross 
the  river,  or  fell  among  the  bogs,  pursued  by  the  nimble- 
footed  Irish  kernes.  All  their  guns,  tents,  baggage, 
and  arms,  with  32  colours,  1,500  draught  horses  and 
provisions  for  two  months,  besides  Lord  Montgomery 
and  21  officers,  150  men  and  stores  of  ammunition 
were  captured  by  the  Irish,  who  on  their  side  only  had 
70  men  killed  and  200  wounded  ! 

General  Munroe  himself,  leaving  his  hat,  sword  and 


HOW  OWEN  ROE  O'NEIIJ,  GAVE  HIS  SWORD.         143 

cloak  behind,  fled  at  top  speed  with  the  remnant  of  his 
late  proud  force  to  Lisburn  and  thence  to  Carrickfergus. 

It  was  a  glorious  victory  ;  and,  some  days  later, 
the  32  captured  standards  were  borne  in  solemn  pro- 
cession by  the  chiefs  of  the  Irish  nobility  at  Limerick, 
followed  by  the  Papal  Nuncio,  the  Archbishop  of  Cashel 
and  three  bishops,  to  St.  Mary's  Cathedral  where  the 
Te  Deum  was  chanted  and  a  Mass  of  thanksgiving 
celebrated. 

Owen  Roe's  countenance  was  exceedingly  gentle  and 
gracious  in  expression.  He  wore  a  thick  square  brown 
beard,  and  his  eyes  were  large,  bold  and  eloquent  of 
feeling  ;  his  nose  was  a  sharp,  thin  compromise  between 
the  aquiline  and  the  Roman — a  nose  like  Julius  Caesar's. 
The  face,  though,  was  not  sufficiently  stern  or  inflexible 
for  a  leader  of  those  troublous  days.  He  suffered  him- 
self, out  of  modesty  and  nobility  of  character,  to  be  too 
much  thrust  aside  by  men  of  inferior  military  capacities 
but  ineffably  superior  self-conceit  and  more  violent 
temperament.  The  portrait  of  him  that  has  come  down 
to  us  shows  him  wearing  a  flat  cap  like  a  Scotch  bonnet, 
with  a  jewelled  clasp,  and  a  shaggy  fur  cloak  over  a 
steel  corselet. 


144  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
CROMWELL  IN  IRELAND. — His  REPULSE  AT  CLONMEL. 

But  the  pusillanimity  of  the  Anglo-Irish,  who  still 
wanted  alliance  with  the  Ormondist  party  and  the 
King,  in  great  measure  counteracted  this  splendid 
triumph  of  the  popular  cause,  and  Ormond,  "  the  great  " 
Duke  or  Karl  as  he  has  been  called,  actually  surrendered 
Dublin  to  the  Parliamentarians,  receiving  £5,000  and  a 
pension  of  £2,000  per  annum.  After  this  unspeakable 
treachery,  however,  to  even  his  King,  he  fled  the 
country.  Ormond  sold  his  King  rather  than  hand 
over  the  capital  to  O'Neill  and  Preston  who  were 
investing  it. 

And  now  Preston's  jealousy  of  O'Neill  aided  in  the 
ruin  of  the  cause  also.  His  military  talents  were  by 
no  means  of  a  high  order,  yet  he  sought  to  eclipse 
Benburb.  With  7,000  foot  and  1,000  horse  he  encoun- 
tered an  inferior  force  of  English  under  General  Jones, 
the  new  Parliamentary  Governor  of  Dublin,  at  Dungan 
Hill,  near  Trim,  abandoning  an  excellent  position  to 
crush  the  latter.  He  was  most  ignominously  defeated 
and  lost,  it  is  said,  over  5,000  men.  It  was  a  dreadful 
disaster  ;  the  Confederate  army  of  Leinster  was  prac- 
tically exterminated.  Owen  Roe  came  up  with  12,000 
men,  and  Jones  retired  within  the  walls  of  Dublin. 


CROMWELL  IN  IRELAND.  145 

The  savage  Inchiquin,  too,  reduced  Munster,  though 
he  shrank  from  attacking  the  famous  Sir  Alexander 
McDonnell,  known  as  "  Colkitto  "  (the  Left-handed) 
at  Clonmel.  Colkitto  and  his  brave  Antrim  Mac- 
Donnells  had,  as  we  have  said  "  formed  the  backbone 
of  the  army  which,  under  the  gallant  Montrose,  did  such 
splendid  service  for  King  Charles."  The  heroic  Col- 
kitto was  afterwards  put  to  the  sword  in  cold  blood 
by  Inchiquin,  with  whom  some  of  the  Confederate 
Council  actually  afterwards  made  a  truce,  completely 
tying  the  hands  of  Owen  Roe.  Ormond  returned  to 
the  people  he  had  betrayed,  and,  joined  by  Preston  and 
Inchiquin,  invested  Dublin.  The  garrison  made  a 
sortie  and  "  the  great "  Earl  was  completely  routed 
with  a  loss  of  nearly  7,000  men. 

A  new,  and  indeed  a  terrible,  foe  now  landed  in 
Ireland.  This  was  the  future  great  Lord  High  Protector 
of  England,  Oliver  Cromwell.  He  landed  at  Ringsend, 
near  Dublin,  on  August  I4th,  1649,  with  9,000  foot  and 
4,000  horse,  his  equally  dreaded  "  Ironsides."  With  his 
force  increased  by  the  Dublin  army  to  17,000  men  he 
attacked  Drogheda,  held  for  the  Confederates  by  a 
gallant  English  Catholic  officer,  Sir  Arthur  Aston, 
and  3,000  men.  Speedily  breaching  the  wall  of  the  town 
with  his  heavy  ordnance,  Cromwell  flung  a  storming 
party  forward.  It  was  twice  repulsed,  with  the  loss  of 
its  colonel,  but  eventually  forced  a  passage  into  the 
town  and  this  was  won.  The  heroic  Sir  Arthur  Aston, 
however,  and  250  others  barricaded  themselves  in  the 
Milmount,  a  place  of  some  strength  in  the  south  town, 
and  made  such  resistance  that  Cromwell  offered  them 
quarter  if  they  surrendered.  Relying  on  the  Lord 

L 


146  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Deputy's  word,  the  garrison  laid  down  its  arms,  and  was 
immediately  butchered  to  a  man.  The  slaughter  did 
not  stop  at  that.  For  five  days  it  went  on,  and  non- 
combatants,  men,  women  and  children  were  massacred 
with  the  armed  men.  But  our  intention  is  to  avoid 
such  barbarous  horrors  as  the  merciless,  iron-hearted 
Cromwell  now  inaugurated,  and  so  we  will  not  give 
further  details.  His  purpose  was  to  create  terror 
and  thus  unnerve  his  foes,  and  his  plan  succeeded  in  a 
measure. 

He  next  turned  his  attention  to  Wexford.  The 
Wexford  people  would  have  none  of  Ormond's  men, 
and  would  only  hear  of  having  a  garrison  of  1,200 
reliable  Ulster  men  under  Colonel  Sinnott  and  Sir 
Edmond  Butler.  Here  Captain  Stafford,  the  Royalist 
commander  of  the  castle,  secretly  corresponded  with 
Cromwell  and  admitted  the  Puritans  into  the  castle, 
turning  his  guns  then  upon  the  betrayed  and  amazed 
town.  The  Irish  were  thus  driven  from  the  walls  and 
the  English  entered,  and  again,  as  at  Drogheda,  put 
men,  women  and  little  children  to  the  sword.  In  the 
market-place,  now  known  as  the  "  Bull  Ring,"  300 
women,  kneeling  for  protection  around  the  great  cross, 
were  butchered  by  the  inhuman  "  Ironsides  "  like  sheep. 
During  the  carnage,  a  priest  stood  on  the  steps  of  the 
cross  holding  aloft  a  crucifix,  calling  on  the  women  to 
die  bravely  for  Christ  and  his  saints — stood  there,  thus 
exhorting  and  encouraging,  until  he  was  himself  struck 
down  by  an  English  soldier's  steel. 

If  we  execrate  the  traitor  of  Wexford,  let  us  honour 
that  noble  priest,  also  a  Stafford — Father  Raymond 
Stafford. 


CROMWEUv  IN  IRELAND.  147 

At  Ross  or  New  Ross,  General  Luke  Taffe  wrung 
honourable  terms  from  Cromwell,  and  General  O'Farrell, 
with  only  500  Ulster  men,  forced  him  to  raise  the  siege 
of  Waterford.  Cromwell's  army  was  now  suffering  from 
fever  and  dysentery,  and  had  Owen  Roe  O'Neill  been 
able  to  measure  swords  with  him,  it  is  not  at  all  im- 
probable that  the  future  Lord  High  Protector  would 
have  found  his  match — we  mean  in  the  field  of  battle. 

But  just  before  Cromwell's  arrival  in  Ireland,  the 
gallant  Irish  leader  had  been  seized  with  a  strange 
malady,  "  attributed  by  some  to  slow  poison."*  He  now 
lay  sick  unto  death  at  Cloughoughter  in  County  Cavan, 
even  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  marching  south  against 
Cromwell.  There  he  died  on  November  6th,  1649, 
the  last  hope  of  the  Irish  Confederates.  The  great  Earl 
of  Ormond  promptly  fled  the  country  again,  fearing  to 
meet  Cromwell. 

Wintering  at  Cork,  Cromwell  continued  his  campaign, 
capturing  Kilkenny  and  many  other  places.  He  laid 
siege  to  Clonmel,  defended  by  Hugh  O'Neill,  a  nephew 
of  Owen  Roe,  and  to  whose  soldierly  abilities  even 
Carlyle  gives  praise.  The  vauntedly  "  invincible  Iron- 
sides "  of  Cromwell  were  hurled  back  under  his  eyes 
with  a  loss  of  2,500  of  their  number  after  four  hours' 
hard  and  incessant  fighting.  Never  before  had  they 
suffered  such  a  carnal  reverse  ;  and  the  entire  Irish 
garrison  only  numbered  1,500  men.  Every  man  of  it 
had  practically  accounted  for  two  of  the  inhuman 
butchers  of  Wexford  and  Drogheda. 

*  The  tradition,  "absurdly  erroneous,"  is  that  he  danced  in 
poisoned  slippers. 


148  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

The  grand  defence  of  Clonmel  was  a  fight  Irishmen 
have  just  cause  to  be  proud  of.  Cromwell,  finding  the 
sword  useless,  had  tried  treachery  and  made  a  secret 
arrangement  with  Major  Thomas  Fennell,  General 
O'Neill's  second-in-command,  to  betray  the  garrison. 
"  O'Neill  suspected  something  ;  Fennell  was  arrested, 
and  on  promise  of  pardon  revealed  the  whole  plot ; 
O'Neill  strengthened  the  position — the  Northern  gate  " 
— and  allowed  the  500  Puritans  to  be  admitted  as 
arranged.  Then  the  gates  were  slammed  to  in  the  faces 
of  the  others  waiting  to  enter,  and  the  500,  assailed  on 
all  sides,  were  quickly  killed. 

Weakened  thus  in  numbers,  Cromwell  obtained 
reinforcements  and  breached  the  west  wall.  O'Neill 
secretly  formed  a  lane,  80  yards  long,  on  the  other  side 
of  the  breach,  during  the  night;  when  the  English  poured 
into  this,  thinking  to  carry  all  before  them,  they  found 
themselves  in  this  lane,  or  "  pound,"  hemmed  in  on 
either  hand  by  a  bank  of  earth,  timber  and  stones, 
six  or  seven  feet  in  height,  with  a  footbank  behind  for 
the  Irish  lining  it  to  stand  upon  and  hew  and  thrust 
and  shoot  over  it  at  their  trapped  foes.  Two  heavy  guns 
were  set  at  the  end  of  the  lane  to  enfilade  it,  and  in 
houses  along  the  lane  picked  musketeers  were  posted. 
A  deep  ditch  was  dug  in  front  of  the  guns,  which  were 
mounted  behind  a  parapet. 

When  the  lane  was  completely  filled  with  the  storming 
party  the  Irish  suddenly  popped  up  on  both  sides  of 
it  and  fell  on  with  pike  and  sword,  musket  and  scythe, 
while  the  two  guns,  hitherto  masked  and  unsuspected 
by  the  foe,  swept  it  with  chainshot,  ploughing  two  awful 
tracks  of  dead  and  dying  throughout  its  whole  length. 


CROMWEU,  IN  IRELAND.  149 

Shut  up  in  the  narrow  space  and  thus  terribly 
beset,  the  English  could  do  nothing.  It  was  a  veritable 
death-trap  and  they  were  mown  down  to  the  number  of 
2,000  dead. 

A  second  attempt  to  storm  that  lane  of  death  was 
no  more  successful ;  and,  declaring  the  Irish  invincible, 
Cromwell  turned  the  siege  into  a  blockade,  whereupon 
O'Neill  made  a  sortie  upon  an  unsuspecting  post  of  the 
Puritans  and  cut  it  off  to  a  man. 

But  the  heroic  defenders'  provisions  and  ammunition 
were  exhausted.  Secretly  in  the  night  General  O'Neill 
drew  all  his  men  out  of  the  town  and  retired  to  Water- 
ford,  what  time,  acting  on  his  instructions,  the  Mayor 
went  to  Cromwell  with  an  offer  to  surrender  the  place  on 
condition  the  lives,  liberties  and  estates  of  all  were 
secured.  Cromwell  was  willing  to  get  the  place  on  any 
terms  and  agreed  to  those  proposed.  He  was  exceed- 
ingly wroth  when  he  found  how  he  had  been  tricked, 
but  he  abided  by  the  conditions,  well  content  to  take  the 
town  where  he  had  encountered  "  the  stoutest  enemy 
his  army  had  ever  met  with  in  Ireland."  In  that 
death-trap  lane  within  the  breach,  he  lost  one  of  his 
colonels,  Cullin,  who  was  shot  dead,  and  another, 
I/angley,  had  his  left  hand  lopped  off  with  a  scythe. 

Cromwell's  campaign  in  Ireland  was  not  therefore, 
as  is  too  often  supposed,  one  of  uninterrupted  success. 
The  "  Defence  of  Clonmel  "  was  undoubtedly  its  most 
glorious  episode,  and  far  more  worthy  of  note  than  the 
massacres  of  Wexford  and  Drogheda. 

Cromwell  now  turned  over  the  command  to  his  son- 
in-law,  Ireton,  and  quitted  Ireland,  returning  to  England 
on  May  zgth.  It  is  just  possible  that  he  was  afraid  his 


150  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

prestige  would  suffer  if  lie  remained  much  longer  in 
the  country. 

Heber  MacMahon,  Bishop  of  Clogher,  had  taken 
command  of  the  Ulster  army  after  Owen  Roe's  death. 
He  was  defeated  by  Coote  and  Venables,  taken  prisoner 
and  hanged.  General  Preston,  at  Waterford,  surren- 
dered to  Ireton,  and  this  Puritan  general  now  laid  siege 
to  Limerick. 

The  heroic  General  Hugh  O'Neill,  the  defender  of 
Clonmel,  was  military  governor  of  Limerick,  but  he 
had  with  him  the  same  officer  who  had  betrayed  him 
before,  Major  Fennell,  now  a  Colonel.  This  man  was 
a  born  traitor.  He  betrayed  the  pass  of  the  Shannon 
to  Ireton — the  ford  at  Killaloe, — and  it  is  probable 
that  he  went  to  Limerick  for  the  express  purpose  of 
betrayal. 

The  town  held  out  in  spite  of  the  heavy  guns  and 
mortar-pieces  that  the  English,  closely  investing  the 
place,  played  upon  its  walls,  replying  by  a  counter- 
cannonade  and  sorties  that  did  considerable  execution. 
Every  attempt  to  carry  the  city  by  storm  was  beaten 
back.  Ireton  offered  honourable  terms  and  the  towns- 
people heroically  rejected  them,  though  O'Neill,  seeing 
the  hopelessness  of  the  struggle,  was  for  accepting  them. 
For  four  more  months  the  siege  dragged  on,  the  Irish 
hurling  back  the  stormers  from  the  walls  every  time 
these  advanced. 

But  a  worse  foe  than  the  English  arms  entered  the 
city — the  plague — and  reduced  its  fighting  strength  to 
2,500  men.  Faction,  too,  set  in,  to  further  sap  its 
resources  ;  and  now  was  the  traitor  Fennell's  oppor- 
tunity. He,  with  some  other  traitors  and  factionists, 


CROMWELL  IN  IRELAND.  15! 

seized  St.  John's  Gate,  threw  it  open,  and,  admitting 
200  English  troops,  threatened  to  turn  the  guns  of  the 
gate  on  the  city  if  terms  were  not  made. 

Two  days  later  the  town  surrendered,  and,  by  the 
Articles  of  Agreement  or  Treaty,  all  were  allowed  life 
and  property  except  24  persons — General  Hugh 
O'Neill,  General  Purcell,  the  Bishops  of  Limerick 
and  Emly,  and  others.  All  these  were  put  to  death, 
except  Bishop  O'Dwyer  of  Limerick,  who  escaped 
disguised  as  a  soldier,  and  General  O'Neill,  "  who  was 
spared  because  of  the  odium  his  execution  would  cause 
in  foreign  countries."  It  is  said  that  Bishop  O'Brien 
of  Emly,  when  sentenced  to  death,  turned  to  Ireton 
and  predicted  that  he  would  follow  him  beyond  the 
grave  within  a  fortnight.  Ireton  died  of  the  plague 
in  the  city  he  had  captured  within  the  time  named. 

He  had  lost  8,000  men  in  reducing  heroic  Limerick. 
The  traitor  Fennell  received  a  just  reward.  He  was 
hanged  by  the  English  for  two  murders  he  was  proved 
to  have  committed.  The  heroic  Hugh  O'Neill,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  betrayed,  was  sent  to  the  Tower  of 
London,  "  but  the  Spanish  ambassador  interfered  on 
his  behalf,  and  he  was  allowed  to  go  to  Spain."  There 
"  he  was  received  with  the  honour  due  to  a  brave  soldier 
and  patriot."  He  assumed  the  title  of  Earl  of  Tyrone, 
and  in  1660  petitioned  Charles  II.  for  restoration  of 
the  honours  and  estates  of  his  ancestors.  But  Charles 
turned  a  deaf  ear  presumably. 

Athlone,  Galway,  and  the  remaining  strongholds  of 
the  Confederates  now  surrendered  one  by  one,  and 
once  more  Ireland  was  prostrate  under  the  iron  heel 
of  England.  Of  what  followed,  of  the  "  Cromwellian 


152  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Settlement  of  Ireland,"  it  is  not  our  province  to  say 
much,  as  we  have  no  desire  to  harrow  our  readers' 
minds.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  native  population 
were  treated  most  cruelly.  "  To  Hell  or  Connaught  " 
was  the  cry,  and  any  Irish  people  found  east  of  the 
Shannon  after  May  ist,  1654,  were  to  be  put  to  death. 
But  many  refused  to  be  thus  driven  into  the  barren 
wilds  of  the  West  and  carried  on  a  fierce  guerilla  war- 
fare under  the  name  of  "  Rapparees  "  or  "  Tories,"  as 
before.  No  less  than  4,000  Irish  soldiers  quitted  the 
country  of  their  birth  and  took  service  in  the  armies 
of  France,  Spain  and  Poland.  Religious  persecution 
now  reached  an  unparalleled  degree  in  Ireland,  priests 
being  hunted  down  mercilessly  for  £10  per  head. 


PART  VI. 
FOR    JAMES    OR  WILLIAM 

Do  you  remember  long  ago, 

Kathaleen, 

When  your  lover  whispered  low 
"  Shall  I  stay  or  shall  I  go, 

Kathaleen  ?  " 

And  you  answered  proudly,  "  Go, 
Join  King  James  and  strike  a  blow 

For  the  Green." 

"  After  Aughrim,"  by  ARTHUR  GERAIJ>  GEOGHEGAN. 


THE  DEFENCE  OF  DERRY.  155 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
THE  DEFENCE  OF  DERRY. 

The  reign  of  the  Commonwealth  or  Puritan  Govern- 
ment in  England  was  short-lived  and  practically 
collapsed  with  the  death  of  the  dictator,  Oliver 
Cromwell.  With  their  usual  inconsistency,  the  English 
people  at  once  swung  round  to  the  other  extreme, 
and,  throwing  all  the  restraints  and  democratic 
notions  of  Puritanism  to  the  winds,  welcomed  back 
the  son  of  the  King  they  had  executed — welcomed  back 
Charles  II.  with  such  obsequious  expressions  of  loyalty 
as  to  make  that  satirical  monarch  dryly  remark  that 
"if  he  had  only  known  how  much  the  people  loved 
him  he  would  have  come  before." 

With  the  Restoration  of  royalty  in  England,  the  Irish 
people  hoped  for  better  treatment,  but  the  "  great  earl  " 
of  Ormond,  who  had  done  so  little  good  for  the  cause 
of  King  Charles  I.,  had  the  ear  of  the  new  King,  and 
took  care  to  deceive  him,  and  obtain  a  dukedom  for 
himself.  Charles  II.,  too,  with  all  the  goodwill  in 
the  world,  was  afraid  to  show  too  much  leniency  to  the 
Irish  and  offend  his  new  subjects,  whose  fickleness  or 
changeableness  he  fully  appreciated. 

His  brother,  who  was  a  Catholic,  succeeded  him  on 
the  English  throne,  and  was  called  James  II.  This 


156  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

monarch  soon  ran  counter  to  the  will  of  his  people 
by  attempting  to  introduce  toleration  and  religious 
equality.  He  was  a  convert  to  the  Catholic  religion,, 
and  his  eldest  daughter,  Mary,  was  a  Protestant,  and 
had  married  William  of  Nassau,  Prince  of  Orange 
and  Stadtholder  of  Holland,  who  was  not  only  the 
King's  son-in-law  therefore,  but  also  his  nephew.  The 
English  people  invited  Prince  William  to  come  and 
dispossess  James  of  the  throne,  and,  needless  to  say,, 
the  Dutch  prince  came  quickly. 

He  landed  at  Torbay  in  the  south  of  England  on 
November  5th,  1688,  with  15,000  men,  and  James  II., 
deserted  by  his  army  and  fleet  and  all  his  Court 
favourites,  had  to  fly  to  France,  whereby  he  was 
declared  to  have  abdicated.  William  entered  London 
in  triumph. 

James  II.  had  appointed  Richard  Talbot,  created 
Earl  of  Tyrconnell,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland. 
Tyrconnell  was  a  Catholic,  and  now  he  proceeded  to 
disband  and  disarm  the  Protestant  militia  and  raise 
a  Catholic  army.  The  Ulster  Protestants  naturally 
resented  this  and  took  alarm,  seizing  on  several  of  the 
principal  places,  such  as  Deny,  Enniskillen,  Sligo, 
Coleraine,  and  Culmore  Fort.  James  II. 's  only  hope  of 
recovering  the  crown  that  his  daughter  and  son-in-law 
had  deprived  him  of,  was  by  retaining  Ireland  and 
waging  war  from  its  shores.  Well  aided  by  the  French 
King,  he  landed,  therefore,  at  Kinsale  in  March,  1689, 
and  was  received,  on  account  of  his  religion  as  much 
as  the  fact  that  they  considered  him  the  rightful  king 
with  open  arms  by  the  great  mass  of  the  Irish  people. 
Tyrconnell  met  him  at  Cork,  and  an  army  of  30,000 


THE  DEFENCE  OF  DERRY.  157 

men,  horse  and  foot,  was  speedily  raised  to  fight  for 
him.  But  the  Irish  had  been  forbidden  the  use  of 
arms  since  Cromwell's  time,  so  were  wholly  undis- 
ciplined. The  officers  were  for  the  most  part  country 
gentlemen  with  no  military  knowledge  either,  and 
the  very  blacksmiths  did  not  know  how  to  make 
arms.  The  only  soldiers  at  all  in  the  army  worthy  of 
the  name  were  the  Rapparees,  or  Tories,  the  hunted 
outlaws  who  had  lived,  like  Robin  Hood  and  "  his 
merrie  men "  of  English  renown,  in  the  hills  and 
glens,  waging  a  savage  guerilla  warfare  upon  those 
who  had  driven  them  from  their  lands  and  homes. 

These  Rapparees  were  so  named  from  the  half-pikes 
adopted  by  them  both  as  weapons  and  distinctive 
tokens  and  called  "  rapparees."  And  these  lacked  the 
steadiness  of  disciplined  troops,  being  accustomed  only 
to  guerilla  or  irregular  warfare,  that  of  the  ambush  and 
sudden  onfall,  the  fierce  reprisal,  to  only  fighting  at 
advantage  and  to  seeking  safety  in  flight  when  taken  at 
disadvantage. 

Of  this  raw  army,  Tyrconnell,  a  most  incompetent 
man,  was  made  commander,  and  a  French  general, 
De  Rosen,  was  second  in  command.  A  regiment  under 
Lord  Antrim  was  sent  by  Tyrconnell  to  seize  and 
garrison  Derry.  I^undy,  the  governor,  was  a  secret 
partisan  of  James  and  was  for  surrendering  the  place, 
but  while  negotiations  were  pending  a  great  mob  of  the 
*'  'Prentice  Boys  "  rushed  up  and  shut  the  gates  in  the 
face  of  King  James's  commissioners  and  soldiers,  raising 
the  shout  of  "  No  Surrender  !  " 

The  cry  was  taken  up  by  the  townspeople,  who 
were  all  Protestants,  and  had  been  greatly  swollen  in 


158  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

numbers  by  terrified  refugees  from  other  parts — co- 
religionists of  course. 

"  No  surrender  !  We  will  hold  the  place  for  King 
William  of  Orange  !  " 

It  would  certainly  seem  that  at  first  the  Williamite 
garrison  and  volunteer  combatants  within  the  city 
were  numerically  stronger  than  their  besiegers,  and 
two  regiments  arrived  from  England  to  swell  their 
number.  Nevertheless  the  place  was  not  well  equipped 
for  a  siege,  the  fortifications  were  only  "  a  simple  wall 
overgrown  with  grass  and  weeds  ;  there  was  not  even 
a  ditch  before  the  gates."  Provisions,  too,  were 
scarce,  the  guns  poorly  mounted,  and  there  were  not 
many  horses  for  cavalry. 

Seeing  the  spirit  of  the  townspeople,  lyundy  fled  in 
the  disguise  of  a  porter,  leaving  the  city  without  a  head. 
"  But  there  were  not  wanting  men  of  energy  and  ability 
to  step  into  his  place.  The  Rev.  George  Walker,  the 
Protestant  Rector  of  Donaghmore,  was  made  governor, 
and  two  officers,  Major  Baker  and  Captain  Murray, 
assumed  the  military  command.  If  they  had  little 
else  in  the  town  they  had  plenty  of  ammunition, 
480  barrels  of  gunpowder  having  been  smuggled  into 
it.  Stronger  works,  too,  were  now  pushed  forward 
with. 

James's  troops  summoned  the  place  to  surrender, 
but  they  were  fired  on  by  way  of  answer,  and  so  the  very 
much  disappointed  Catholic  King  sat  down  to  besiege 
the  place.  In  all  there  were  7,500  trained  officers 
and  soldiers  in  Derry,  and  the  Volunteers,  according  to 
"  one  who  was  in  the  city  and  ought  to  know,"  brought 
the  fighting  strength  up  to  12,000.  Moreover,  they  had 


THE  DEFENCE  OF  DERRY.  159 

22  guns,  "  two  of  which  were  placed  on  the  tower  of  the 
cathedral." 

The  besieging  forces  did  not  exceed  10,000  men  ;*  and 
they  had  but  six  guns  ! 

King  James  left  General  Maumont  to  prosecute  the 
siege  and  departed  for  the  more  congenial  atmosphere 
of  Dublin,  where  he  could  play  at  being  a  monarch  still. 
Maumont,  on  account  of  the  poor  ordnance  he  had, 
determined  to  first  attempt  an  escalade  or  assault  by 
storm,  knowing  well  the  dash  and  impetuosity  of  even  an 
undisciplined  Irish  army.  But  the  onslaught  was  as 
fiercely  met.  The  'prentice  boys  and  other  volunteers 
flocked  to  the  wall  to  the  support  of  the  Williamite 
troops,  who  at  first  gave  way  and  suffered  the  Jacobites 
to  capture  the  entrenchments  at  Windmill  Hill.  With 
pike  and  musket,  axe  and  adze  and  iron  bars,  the  de- 
fenders battled  desperately  with  the  wild  Irish  stormers. 

The  women,  the  wives  of  the  colonists,  were  inspired 
with  the  general  enthusiasm,  and,  mingling  with  their 
husbands  behind  the  wall  and  trenches,  handed  these 
ammunition  or  loaded  their  muskets  for  them.  Some 
women  even  rushed  to  the  fray,  like  their  sisters  of 
another  faith  did  at  Limerick  later,  and  hurled  stones 
and  broken  bottles  and  household  utensils  at  the 
assailants.  These  were  repulsed  with  a  loss  of  400  men 
killed  and  wounded  and  Captain  Butler — son  of  L,ord 
Mountgarret — the  leader  of  the  assault,  who  was 
captured  with  six  other  officers. 

The  siege  now  became  a  blockade.     It  was  decided 


'The  Duke  of  Berwick  said  the  besiegers  were  only  6,000,  possibly 
to  start  with.     The  highest  estimate  is  only  20,000. 


l6o  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

to  reduce  the  place  by  starvation  ;  and  in  order  to 
prevent  supplies  coming  up  the  River  Foyle  into  the 
place  the  besiegers  built  a  "  boom  "  or  barricade  across 
the  stream  between  Culmore  Fort  and  the  town — 
actually  between  Charles  Fort  and  Grange  Fort.  Several 
boats  full  of  stones  were  first  sunk  at  the  point,  then  a 
row  of  stakes  was  driven  into  the  bottom  of  the  river, 
and  great  balks  of  timber  were  lashed  together  and 
fastened  to  either  shore  by  cables  a  foot  thick. 

For  over  three  months  the  siege  dragged  out,  all 
attempts  of  the  Irish  to  storm  the  walls  being  gallantly 
repelled  and  the  defenders  occasionally  sallying  forth 
and  inflicting  loss  on  their  besiegers.  But  the  brave 
garrison  was  reduced  to  the  last  extremities  of  star- 
vation :  strong  men  within  its  ranks  died  of  hunger. 
Weeds  and  herbs  were  eaten,  a  mouse  sold  for  sixpence, 
a  rat  for  a  shilling,  and  tallow  and  hides  were  greedily 
consumed,  and  this  though  there  was  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  a  fleet  with  abundant  supplies  from  England. 

At  length,  on  the  28th  of  July,  three  frigates,  the 
Mountjoy,  the  Phoenix,  and  the  Dartmouth,  determined 
to  try  and  force  the  boom  in  the  river  and  carry  pro- 
visions up  to  the  beleaguered  city.  Returning  the 
heavy  fire  poured  upon  them  from  the  forts  on  either 
side  of  the  river,  the  three  vessels  boldly  stood  up  this 
The  first  ship,  the  Mountjoy,  charged  the  boom,  and, 
recoiling,  ran  aground.  She  was  refloated  by  her 
gallant  crew  and  again  put  at  the  boom,  which  gave  way 
before  the  shock. 

Passing  through  the  breach,  the  vessels  continued  on 
to  the  city  and  took  the  long-looked-for  relief  to  the 
starving  garrison.  Disheartened,  the  Jacobite  general 


Bursting  the  boom  across  the  Foyle 


THE  DEFENCE  OF  DERRY.  l6l 

Hamilton — General  Maumont  had  been  killed  earlier — 
raised  the  siege,  "  the  most  memorable  and  desperate 
recorded  in  the  annals  of  the  British  Isles." 

But,  look  at  it  how  one  may,  if  the  garrison  are  to  be 
admired  for  their  stubborn  tenacity,  patience  and 
"  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  which  has  been  rarely  equalled 
in  war"  (D' Alton),  must  we  not  also  admire  a  raw, 
wholly  undisciplined,  half-armed  army  of  10,000 
recruits — the  Duke  of  Berwick  asserted  the  besiegers 
did  not  exceed  6,000 — who,  with  only  six  guns,  could 
shut  up  12,000  well  armed  combatants,  7,500  of  whom 
were  trained  veterans,  equipped  with  22  guns,  within 
any  place  at  all,  and  not  only  shut  them  up,  but  keep 
them  there  when  maddened  by  starvation. 

Due  honour  to  both  sides,  let  us  say. 

The  besiegers  lost  fully  8,000  men,  according  to 
Grant,  the  besieged  3,000.  Other,  and  perhaps  more 
reliable,  authorities  place  the  defenders'  loss  as  high 
as  6,000. 

Another  reverse  that  the  Jacobites  suffered  about  the 
same  time  was  near  Enniskillen.  The  garrison  of  that 
town  intercepted  a  force  under  Lord  Mountcashel 
advancing  to  besiege  them  and  utterly  routed  it  at 
Newtownbutler,  with  a  loss  of  2,000  slain  and  400 
prisoners.  Mountcashel  himself  was  wounded  and 
captured. 

All  Ulster  had  now  declared  for  William  except 
Carrickfergus  and  Charlemont,  which  were  the  only 
two  fortified  places'  in  the  hands  of  the  Jacobites,  as 
James's  followers  were  called  from  Jacobus,  the  I,atin 
for  James.  James  had  summoned  a  Parliament  and 
it  met  at  Dublin  on  May  27th,  and  is  known  as  "  the 

M 


l62  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Patriot  Parliament  of  1689."  The  House  of  Peers 
consisted  of  54  members,  only  14  of  whom  were  Pro- 
testants, but  of  these  six  were  Protestant  bishops. 
No  Catholic  bishop,  strange  to  say,  was  summoned. 
In  the  Commons  there  were  224  members  who  also 
consisted  mostly  of  Catholics.  Sir  Richard  Nagle,  a 
lawyer,  who  had  written  against  the  Act  of  Settlement, 
was  appointed  Speaker.  This  "  Patriot  Parliament " 
repealed  all  the  penal  laws  and  gave  liberty  of  conscience 
to  all.  It  also  granted  bounties  for  ship-building  and 
for  the  establishment  of  schools  of  navigation,  and 
attainted  of  high  treason  over  2,000  persons  who  had 
joined  the  Prince  of  Orange,  declaring  their  estates 
forfeit,  and  imposed  a  tax  of  £20,000  monthly  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  army. 

King  William  of  England  struck  quickly.  He  sent 
Marshal  Schomberg  with  a  powerful  army  over  to 
Belfast,  and  Carrickfergus  surrendered  after  a  week's 
siege,  the  garrison  having  exhausted  their  ammunition. 
Schomberg,  however,  avoided  a  pitched  battle  with  the 
Irish  and  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Dundalk.  He 
then  blockaded  Charlemont  Castle,  which  was  held  for 
James  by  Teague  O'Regan  with  only  800  men.  Schom- 
berg had  as  many  thousands  with  him  and  a  fine  siege 
train.  O'Regan  was  a  hunchback  and  an  elderly 
man  ;  he  held  Charlemont  for  several  months  and  was 
reduced  by  hunger  to  the  last  extremity.  Even  then 
he  would  only  hear  of  surrendering  on  being  allowed  to 
march  out  with  all  the  honours  of  war.  Schomberg 
agreed,  and  forth  O'Regan  marched  with  arms  and 
baggage,  and  colours  flying,  his  men  weak  and  wasted 
with  starvation  and  half-healed  wounds,  accompanied 


THE  DEFENCE  OF  DERRY.  163 

by  "  a  large  number  of  women  and  children,  eagerly 
gnawing  pieces  of  dry  hides  with  the  hair  on  ;  a  small 
portion  of  filthy  meal  and  a  few  pounds  of  tainted 
beef  being  the  only  provisions  remaining  in  the  fort." 

King  James  conferred  on  the  gallant  O' Regan  the 
honour  of  knighthood  and  made  him  Governor  of 
Sligo. 

And  now  came  William  of  Orange  himself  to  fight  for 
his  newly  gotten  crown.  On  June  I4th,  1690,  he  landed 
at  Carrickfergus  with  an  army  of  45,000  men,  most  of 
whom  were  continental  veterans,  well  armed,  well 
drilled,  well  officered.  He  had  a  train  of  60  guns. 
James  at  once  advanced  against  him  from  Dublin  with 
an  army  of,  at  most,  23,000  men,  Irish  and  French, 
and  with  but  12  pieces  of  cannon.  It  was  a  piece  of 
bravery  not  to  be  expected  of  James. 


164  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  BOYNE  WATER. — SARSFIEI^D'S  RIDE. — THE  WOMEN 
OF  LIMERICK. 

The  two  armies  faced  each  other  on  the  banks  of  the 
Boyne,  where  was  fought  a  battle  the  result  of  which 
could  not  have  been  in  doubt  for  a  moment.  William's 
army  far  outnumbered  the  Jacobites,  was  almost  two 
to  their  one,  and  was,  moreover,  better  led  and  better 
equipped  in  every  way.  The  Williamites  were  veterans 
to  a  man,  while  only  a  few  thousands  of  James's  army 
were  well  trained  French  troops  ;  the  rest  were  the  raw 
Irish  levies,  hastily  drilled,  and  now,  for  the  first  time 
seeing  real  battle,  and  that  pitted  against  the  finest 
soldiers  in  the  world.  The  odds  were  big,  too,  in  the 
case  of  artillery.  As  we  have  said,  William  had  60  large 
guns,  and  James  only  12. 

Nevertheless,  those  raw  Irish  recruits  fought  with  the 
usual  intrepidity  of  their  race  on  that  fateful  ist  of  July, 
1690. 

As  if  to  bear  out  the  truth  of  the  saying  that  "  those 
whom  the  gods  wish  to  destroy,  they  first  make  mad," 
James  sent  away  six  of  his  12  guns  to  Dublin  and 
neglected  to  destroy  the  bridge  of  Slane,  the  key  to  his 
position !  Only  at  the  last  moment,  too,  was  the 
ford  at  Rosnaree  guarded,  Sir  Neil  O'Neill  being  sent  just 


THE   BOYNE   WATER.  165 

in  time,  though  vainly,  to  defend  it  with  800  dragoons, 
when  he  should  have  had  cannon  and  means  of  throwing 
up  barricades.  Charles  I.  of  England,  who  was  executed 
by  Cromwell  and  the  Parliamentarians,  was  said  "  to 
have  been  his  own  best  general."  James  II.  may  well 
be  said  to  have  been  his  own  worst  general,  and  but  for 
the  gallant  Patrick  Sarsfield,  who  was  created  Earl  of 
l,ucan  and  was  descended  on  his  mother's  side  from  the 
O'Moores,  Princes  of  I/eix,  James  was  not  blessed  with 
a  brilliant  throng  of  generals  by  any  means. 

For  an  entire  hour,  the  Irish  dragoons  of  Sir  Neil 
O'Neill  disputed  the  passage  of  the  ford,  exposed  to 
the  fire  of  a  numerous  artillery  and  charges  of  cavalry 
greatly  their  superiors  in  number.  They  drove  the 
Dutch  Guards  and  Schomberg's  regiment  back  several 
times  into  the  river  until  at  last  Sir  Neil  fell  from  his 
horse  mortally  wounded,  when  the  Williamites  forced 
their  way  across.  Outflanked,  L,auzun,  James's  French 
general,  sent  all  his  Frenchmen  and  the  horse  under 
Sarsfield,  with  the  six  guns,  to  drive  back  that  wing  of 
the  foe. 

The  centre  of  the  Jacobite  position  was  now  left 
without  a  gun,  and  with  only  the  raw  Irish  recruits  to 
hold  it  against  the  redoubtable  King  William  himself. 
Marshal  Schomberg  led  his  troops  into  the  river  at  the 
fords  of  Oldbridge.  Bravely  the  Irish  contested  his 
passage,  although  a  few  of  the  raw  levies  bolted,  it  is 
said.  If  the  whole  lot  had  done  so  there  would  not  have 
been  much  to  marvel  at,  seeing  they  were  being  heavily 
cannonaded  and  had  not  a  single  gun  to  reply  with ; 
that  they  were  all  undisciplined,  ill-officered  troops 
and  were  confronting  veterans. 


1 66  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

And  yet  the  Williamites  were  hurled  back  with  the 
loss  of  two  of  their  generals,  Caillemote  and  Schomberg 
himself,  as  well  as  the  Rev  Mr.  Walker,  the  militant 
parson  who  had  defended  Derry.  King  William  himself 
had  been  wounded  earlier  in  the  fight  and  had  to  hasten 
to  the  scene  to  prevent  disaster.  His  arrival  put  a 
different  complexion  on  affairs.  The  Irish  foot  were 
borne  back,  overwhelmed  by  numbers,  and  at  length 
gave  way  on  all  sides.  But  the  Irish  horse  "  continued 
to  resist  desperately."  The  French  infantry,  too, 
covered  the  retreat  well.  William  was  struck  by  two 
balls,  one  of  which  carried  away  his  boot. 

The  Irish  fell  back  on  Duleek,  turning  at  bay  and 
making  a  last  stand  at  the  Naul  at  nine  o'clock.  James 
fled  in  terror  from  the  scene  taking  Sarsfield,  the  only 
officer  capable  of  redeeming  the  day,  with  him  to  act 
as  his  bodyguard.  The  tale  is  told  that  on  arriving  at 
Dublin,  the  cowardly  monarch  said  to  L,ady  Tyrconnell 
that  the  Irish  troops  had  shamefully  run  away. 

"  But  your  Majesty  won  the  race,"  cuttingly  replied 
the  lady. 

The  very  next  day  he  posted  off  to  Kinsale,  whence  he 
sailed  for  France,  taking  thither  the  news  of  his  own 
defeat. 

At  the  Boyne  the  loss  on  both  sides  was  about  a 
thousand  killed  and  wounded,  but  the  Williamites  lost 
Marshal  Schomberg  and  Caillemote,  two  of  their 
general  officers,  and  William  himself  was  wounded, 
The  whole  of  the  tent  equipage,  baggage,  arms,  etc., 
of  the  Irish  were  captured,  however,  with  many 
standards,  horses,  and  prisoners.  Their  six  field-pieces 
do  not  appear  to  have  been  taken,  the  only  artillery  they 


THE  BOYNE  WATER.  167 

had,  and  the  French  and  Swiss  infantry  retired  in  good 
order,  covered  by  the  Irish  horse,  and  marched  into 
Dublin  in  perfect  discipline,  "  with  their  drums  beating, 
and  colours  flying,  their  white  uniforms  blackened  by 
dust  and  in  many  instances  splashed  with  blood " 
(Grant).  So  it  could  not  have  been  such  a  hopeless 
defeat,  and  with  a  commander  worthy  of  the  name 
might  well  have  been  retrieved. 

The  Irish,  however,  under  the  incompetent  Tyrconnell, 
whose  wife  possibly  might  have  made  a  better  leader, 
abandoned  Dublin  and  concentrated  at  Limerick. 
Happily  now,  Tyrconnell  followed  James  to  France 
and  the  command  devolved  on  General  Sarsfield.  He 
had  inherited  the  family  estates  at  Lucan  with  an  income 
of  £2,000  a  year  and  had  married  the  Lady  Honor, 
second  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Clanricarde.  He  had 
held  a  lieutenancy  in  the  English  Guards,  and  had 
followed  the  deposed  James  II.  to  France  and  then  to 
Ireland. 

Athlone  Castle  was  held  for  the  Jacobites  by  Colonel 
Richard  Grace,  an  old  Confederate  Catholic  of  1641, 
"  now  laden  with  years,  but  as  bold  of  heart  and  brave 
of  spirit  as  when  first  he  drew  a  sword  for  Ireland." 
King  William  detached  General  Douglas  with  12,000 
men  and  a  siege  train  of  12  cannon  and  2  mortars  to  reduce 
the  place.  When  called  on  to  surrender,  the  hero  Grace 
fired  his  pistol  in  the  air,  and  said  that  was  his  answer. 

Grace  had  demolished  the  English  suburb  of  the 
town  and  broken  down  the  bridge.  Douglas  besieged 
the  place,  bombarding  it  fiercely  but  ineffectively  for 
ten  days  ;  then,  hearing  that  Sarsfield  was  coming  with 
15,000  men,  he  again  asked  Grace  to  surrender.  Grace's 


l68  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

reply  this  time  was  to  hang  out  a  red  flag,  a  sign  of 
"  war  to  the  death."  With  his  ammunition  nearly 
exhausted  and  dreading  an  attack  from  Sarsfield,  whose 
name  was  already  becoming  one  of  terror  to  the  William- 
ites,  Douglas  withdrew,  leaving  old  Governor  Grace 
victorious. 

Sarsfield  gathered  together  20,000  foot  and  3,500 
horse  in  Limerick.  The  French  General  Lauzun,  when 
he  saw  the  fortifications  of  the  city,  scoffingly  said  they 
could  be  taken  with  roasted  apples,  and  carried  off  the 
whole  of  the  French  troops  to  Gal  way,  to  support  a 
fatuous  lunatic  who  believed  himself  to  be  the  chosen 
deliverer  of  the  Irish  race,  one  Balderg,  or  "  Red 
Mouth "  O'Donnell.  Chosen  deliverer,  indeed !  The 
same  O'Donnell  did  not  hesitate  later  to  betray  his 
countrymen. 

One  gallant  French  captain,  however,  named  De 
Boisseleau,  to  whom  all  honour  be  paid,  stood  by  Sars- 
field, and  having  had  considerable  experience  in  forti- 
fication work,  set  himself  to  strengthen  and  improve 
the  defences  of  Limerick  in  every  conceivable  way. 
King  William  arrived  before  the  gates  of  the  city  in 
person  on  August  gih,  1690,  and  seized  on  the  fords 
north  of  it.  On  the  very  next  day  a  Huguenot  deserter 
from  his  army  got  into  the  city  and  informed  Sarsfield 
that  a  convoy  was  on  its  way  from  Dublin  with  heavy 
siege  guns,  pontoons  and  large  stores  of  ammunition. 
Sarsfield  determined  on  a  bold  move. 

He  sought  the  aid  and  counsel  of  a  daring  and 
noted  Rapparee  chief  fighting  under  him,  the  famous 
"  Galloping  O'Hogan,"  who  knew  every  hole  and  corner 
in  the  county.  O'Hogan  was  as  ready  and  eager  as 


THE   BOYNE  WATER.  1 69 

himself  for  the  daring  attempt  suggested  ;  and  with 
500  picked  horsemen,  the  pair  slipped  out  of  Limerick 
secretly  under  cover  of  the  darkness  on  that  same 
Sunday  midnight,  August  loth,  by  way  of  Thomond 
Bridge,  crossing  thus  into  Clare. 

Led  unerringly  by  O'Hogan,  they  struck  rapidly 
north,  making  a  detour  to  avoid  William's  outposts, 
and  crossed  the  Shannon  again  at  Killaloe.  Daybreak 
saw  the  resolute  little  band  snugly  hiding  in  the  recesses 
or  glens  of  Keeper  Hill.  There  they  remained  all  day, 
Sarsfield  sending  out  scouts  to  locate  the  convoy  and 
discover  all  that  they  might. 

Only  100  strong,  the  convoy  encamped  for  the  night 
at  Ballyneety,  17  miles  from  Limerick,  and  by  a  very 
curious  coincidence  chose  the  name  of  its  deadly  foe, 
Sarsfield  himself,  as  its  password  for  the  night — a  fact 
one  of  Sarsfield's  scouts  informed  him  of.  Steal- 
thily, under  the  skilful  guidance  still  of  Galloping 
O'Hogan,  Sarsfield  stole  through  the  inky  night  upon  the 
camp.  The  outer  sentry  challenged  : 

"  The  password  ?  " 

"  Sarsfield,"  answered  the  owner  of  the  name. 

"  Right !    Pass  on,"  answered  the  sentry. 

The  troop  passed  him  by  without  awakening  suspi- 
cion. 

Again  came  the  challenge  from  a  second  sentry. 

"  Sarsfield  is  the  word,  and  Sarsfield  is  the  man  !  " 
were  the  famous  words  the  daring  Irish  general  cried 
in  ringing  tones,  and  at  the  signal  the  whole  500  horse- 
men thundered  down  with  flashing  sabres  and  terrifying 
war-shout  upon  the  sleeping  camp. 

The   startled   Williamites   sprang   up,   fuddled   with 


I/O  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

their  slumbers,  only  to  be  cut  down  or  made  prisoners, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  all  was  over.  The  siege  train  was 
captured.  Sarsfield  ordered  the  pontoons,  which  were 
to  be  used  for  making  bridges  by  which  William's  army 
might  cross  the  river,  to  be  smashed  to  atoms,  what 
time  all  the  guns  were  filled  chokeful  with  powder, 
and  then  turned  muzzle  downward  and  half  buried  in 
the  earth,  the  ammunition  waggons  being  ringed  close 
around  with  everything  else  that  the  Irish  troopers 
could  not  conveniently  carry  off  with  them. 

A  train  of  gunpowder  was  then  laid,  and  fired,  as  the 
troops  drew  off  to  a  safe  distance.  With  a  flash  that 
was  seen  in  William's  own  camp  and  a  report  which 
shook  the  surrounding  hills  and  woke  a  thousand 
deafening  echoes  among  them,  guns  and  waggons  and 
pontoons  were  all  blown  up  together — ceased  to  be. 

Back  Sarsfield  and  his  gallant  troop  then  rode  as  they 
had  come,  still  safely  piloted  by  the  faithful  O'Hogan, 
and  they  took  back  with  them  100  saddle  horses,  the 
horses  of  the  entire  convoy,  with  the  400  draught  horses 
of  the  train  laden  with  what  provisions  and  ammunition 
had  been  possible  in  the  haste  necessary. 

William  had,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  been  warned  by  a 
partisan  of  his,  who  had  seen  Sarsfield  cross  the  Shannon, 
and  had  sent  a  force  to  intercept  him.  But  O'Hogan 
led  the  band  across  on  the  return  at  Banagher,  and  so 
it  regained  the  city  walls  in  safety,  to  the  enthusiastic 
delight  of  all  within  these,  townspeople  and  garrison 
alike. 

Furious  at  this  set-back,  William  sent  to  Waterford 
for  another  siege-train,  and  this  time  took  good  care  that 
it  should  reach  him  safely.  With  these  guns  he  now 


THE   BOYNE   WATER. 

hammered  a  breach  near  St.  John's  Gate  and  hurled 
forward  10,000  men  to  storm  it.  The  deadly  struggle 
for  supremacy  that  ensued  has  been  recorded  in  song  and 
story  and  won  undying  fame  for  the  heroic  defenders. 
The  very  women  joined  in  repulsing  the  attack,  as 
we  have  mentioned  already  in  describing  the  Siege  of 
Derry.  They  rushed  into  the  thick  of  the  fight  along 
with  their  brothers  and  fathers  and  husbands,  the 
heroic  townsmen,  and  hurled  stones  and  bottles  and 
bricks  at  the  enemy. 

"  The  women  fought  before  the  men  ; 
Each  man  became  a  match  for  ten  ; 
And  back  they  drove  the  foemen  then 
From  lyimerick  on  the  azure  river." 

The  blacksmith  fought  with  his  sledgehammer, 
the  butcher  with  his  cleaver  or  caught  up  the 
pike  or  musket  of  the  fainting,  bleeding  Irish 
soldier.  The  Williamites  got  into  the  streets,  but 
of  those  who  did  few  got  out  again.  The  resistance 
was  heroic  and  fierce  in  the  extreme.  Back  the  Eng- 
lish, Dutch,  Danes,  Prussians,  French  Huguenots,  and 
other  heterogeneous  constituents  of  William's  army 
were  hurled  with  dreadful  loss.  The  Brandenburgh 
regiment,  a  Prussian  one,  had  captured  the  Black 
Battery  when  a  mine  set  by  Sarsfield  was  sprung  under 
their  feet  and  blew  up  half  their  number. 

For  four  hours  on  end  that  terrible  fight  was  waged, 
and  over  2,000  of  William's  proud  army  were  either 
killed  or  wounded  in  it. 

William  had  had  enough  of  Limerick,  and  three  days 
later  he  raised  the  siege  and  marched  away  to  Water- 


172  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

ford,  whence  he  sailed  for  England,  leaving  the  prose- 
cution of  the  war  to  others. 

Sarsfield  was  not  exactly  a  handsome  man,  and  there 
is  something  inexpressibly  sad  in  his  portrayed  coun- 
tenance as  we  know  it.  It  is  this  sadness  which,  per- 
haps, detracts  from  his  good  looks,  and  makes  us  deem 
him  not  handsome,  for  the  features  are  regular  and 
good,  the  eyes  large  and  bold,  the  nose  aquiline,  the 
mouth  and  chin  firm.  I,ike  Owen  Roe  O'Neill,  he 
suffered  from  over-unobstrusiveness,  unwillingness  to 
thrust  himself  forward,  out  of  a  mistaken  sense  of 
modesty. 


HOW  THEY  HELD  THE  BRIDGE  AT  ATHLONE.    173 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

HOW  THEY  HELD  THE  BRIDGE  AT  ATHLONE  — AuGHRIM. 
— THE  TREATY  OF  LIMERICK. 

Churchill,  who  afterwards  achieved  such  renown  on 
the  continent  as  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  the  future 
victor  of  Blenheim,  Ramillies,  etc.,  now  took  command 
of  the  Williamite  forces  in  Ireland.  At  the  head  of 
16,000  men  he  forced  Cork  to  surrender  on  honourable 
terms,  and  likewise  Kinsale.  Tyrconnell  now  unfor- 
tunately returned  from  France,  and  the  brave  Sarsfield 
was  superseded  in  the  command  of  the  Jacobites  by 
General  St.  Ruth,  a  very  capable  but  very  bumptious 
commander.  General  Ginkle  had  succeeded  Churchill 
at  the  head  of  the  Williamite  forces.  The  two  armies 
met  at  Athlone,  the  English  18,000  strong,  the  Irish 
20,000. 

The  Shannon  divides  the  town  of  Athlone  in  two,  and 
the  one  in  Leinster  was  called  the  English  town,  and  that 
on  the  Connaught  side,  the  Irish  town.  By  dint  of 
heavy  cannonading,  Ginkle  drove  the  overweening  St. 
Ruth  out  of  the  English  town  and  got  possession  of  it. 
The  town,  however,  was  left  in  ruins  and  flames,  and 
the  Irish  broke  down  the  bridge  connecting  it  with  the 
Irish  town.  Covered  by  their  superior  artillery,  the 
Williamites  contrived  to  throw  some  beams  over  the 


174  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

broken  arches  and  partially  span  the  gap.  But  very 
little  more  planking  and  a  passage  across  the  river  would 
be  available  for  their  army  to  cross. 

A  sergeant  of  Maxwell's  Irish  dragoons,  named 
Costume,  sprang  from  the  ranks.  "  Are  there  ten  men 
here  who  will  die  with  me  for  Ireland  ?  " 

Ten  !  A  hundred  and  more  offered.  But  Sergeant 
Costume  would  only  have  ten  men  at  a  time. 

"  Encasing  themselves  in  complete  armour,"  and 
armed  with  axes,  the  gallant  eleven  rushed  from  behind 
their  breastwork  on  to  the  newly  laid  beams  and  vigor- 
ously hewed  and  hacked  at  these.  The  whole  Leinster 
bank  of  the  river  wreathed  itself  in  smoke  instantly 
and  the  bridgehead  was  swept  by  a  hurricane  of 
bullets  from  muskets  and  grapeshot  from  cannon. 
Riddled  like  sieves  the  heroic  Costume  and  his  ten 
equally  gallant  companions  fell  to  rise  no  more.  Some 
of  the  beams  had  gone,  but  the  eleven  had  perished  to 
a  man. 

Again  a  hero  sprang  from  the  ranks  and  called  on  ten 
others  to  follow  him.  Again  eleven  men  clad  in  armour 
bounded  on  to  that  death-swept  bridge  and  daring  the 
tornado  of  lead  and  iron  pelting  around,  hewed  at  the 
timbers.  Nine  fell  but  the  other  two  completed  the 
work  of  destruction — sent  the  last  beam  tumbling 
into  the  river,  and  then  regained  the  shelter  of  the 
entrenchments,  amid  the  admiring  and  triumphant 
huzzas  of  their  comrades. 

It  was  a  feat  worthy  to  be  recorded  with  that  of 
far-famed  Thermopylae,  where  Leonidas  the  Greek 
and  his  300  fell  holding  the  pass  against  a  whole  host  of 
Persians  ;  it  stands  parallel  with  that  exploit  immor- 


HOW  THEY  HELD  THE  BRIDGE  AT  ATHUWE.        175 

talised  by  the  English  writer  Macaulay,  "  How  Horatius 
kept  the  bridge  in  the  brave  days  of  old." 

Let  me  second  A.  M.  Sullivan's  lament  that  no 
memorial  has  ever  been  erected  to  the  memory  of  the 
heroic  Costume  and  his  companions. 

But  their  valiant  self-sacrifice  was  unavailing  after  all. 
Ginkle,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  greater  commander 
than  King  William  himself,  threw  a  body  of  troops  across 
the  river  below  the  bridge  and  took  the  Irish  town 
also,  chiefly  through  St.  Ruth's  culpable  carelessness 
and  over-confidence.  He  was  jealous  of  Sarsfield 
and  shared  no  counsel  with  him,  though  the  latter  was 
his  second-in-command.  The  Irish  lost  1,000  men  at 
Athlone  and  fell  back  on  Aughrim,  near  Ballinasloe. 

Ginkle's  force  had  now  swollen  to  26,000  men  and  he 
was  better  equipped  than  ever  with  artillery.  He  found 
the  Irish  posted  on  a  strong  situation  with  a  bog  on 
either  hand  and  the  centre  on  a  hill,  called  Kilcommodon. 
It  was  the  I2th  of  July,  1691.  There  were  two  cause- 
ways across  the  morass  in  front,  and  Ginkle  attempted 
to  carry  these  by  an  assault  in  force.  He  was  driven  back 
with  heavy  loss.  But  again  the  jealous  and  vain  St. 
Ruth  had  not  taken  Sarsfield  into  his  plans,  and  had 
relegated  that  brave  and  capable  officer  to  the  sub- 
ordinate position  of  commander  of  the  cavalry  reserve, 
posting  him  in  the  rear  behind  the  hill  "  with  strict 
orders  to  remain  there.  .  .  .  On  that  eventful  day 
the  greatest  soldier  of  the  Irish  race  was  thus  con- 
demned to  inglorious  inactivity."  (D' Alton.) 

Defeated  and  terribly  cut  up,  the  English  were  in 
full  retreat  and  St.  Ruth  was  about  to  give  the  order 
for  a  general  advance,  when  a  cannon  ball  "  took  his 


176  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

head  away  clean  by  the  neck."  A  panic  immediately  set 
in,  and  the  first  intimation  Sarsfield  had  of  his  leader's 
death  was  seeing,  with  consternation  and  amazement, 
the  whole  army  breaking  up  like  a  house  of  cards  and 
flying  back  down  the  hill  towards  him.  All  he  could  do 
was  to  cover  the  retreat,  and  this  he  did  to  the  best  of 
his  power.  Nevertheless,  over  5,000  Irish  fell  in  that 
awful  rout,  while  the  English  and  their  allies  lost 
about  2,000. 

Galway  surrendered  on  honourable  terms  to  the 
victors  ;  and  Ginkle  marched  on  and  invested  Limerick, 
the  last  city  left  to  the  Jacobites  and  into  which  the 
still  unbeaten  Sarsfield  had  thrown  himself  with  the 
remnant  of  his  forces. 

On  the  25th  August,  the  siege  opened  with  a  terrific 
bombardment,  and  a  breach  was  effected  in  the  wall 
of  the  English  town.  Ginkle,  however,  remembering 
King  William's  awful  repulse,  feared  to  attempt  to 
enter  it.  Sarsfield  endeavoured  to  get  4,000  horses 
into  the  city  but  was  unable  to  do  so,  and  a  sortie  was 
repulsed  with  heavy  loss.  A  traitor  in  the  garrison, 
one  Henry  Luttrell,  betrayed  the  passage  over  the 
Shannon,  and,  throwing  a  pontoon  bridge  across  in  the 
night  at  the  point,  Ginkle  took  up  a  position  on  the 
Clare  side  of  the  river,  completely  surrounding  the 
city. 

Sarsfield  intercepted  a  letter  from  Luttrell  to  Ginkle 
and  arrested  the  traitor,  though  they  were  intimate 
friends.  Ginkle  now  offered  conditions,  and,  Sarsfield 
approving  these,  a  truce  was  made,  and  on  the  3rd 
of  October,  the  city  surrendered  on  honourable  terms. 

The  famous  treaty  of  Limerick  was  signed  by  Sarsfield 


HOW  THEY  HEI<D  THE  BRIDGE  AT  ATHI,ONE. 

on  a  large  boulder  or  slab  of  stone,  which  still  stands  at 
the  memorable  spot,  marking  it.  No  one  goes  to 
Limerick  without  seeing  the  "  Treaty  Stone."  It  stands 
on  a  carved  pedestal  ascended  by  three  or  four  flat  stone 
steps  and  bearing  an  inscription.  The  stone  itself  is  a 
rough,  unhewn  mass,  chipped  by  relic-hunters  through 
the  centuries  since. 

A  few  days  after  the  capitulation,  a  French  fleet 
arrived  with  reinforcements  for  Sarsfield  of  3,000  men 
and  10,000  stand  of  arms,  with  ammunition  and  pro- 
visions. But  this  help  came  too  late.  Ginkle  was  in 
terror  that  Sarsfield,  thus  reinforced,  would  tear  up  the 
treaty,  disclaim  it ;  but  the  gallant  Irish  general,  true 
to  foe  as  well  as  friend,  only  said  mournfully  : 

"  Too  late  !  The  treaty  is  signed.  We  have  pledged 
our  honour  and  the  honour  of  Ireland.  Though  a 
hundred  thousand  Frenchmen  were  here  to  help  us  now, 
we  must  keep  our  plighted  troth." 

And  so  to  the  number  of  14,000  infantry  with  colours 
flying,  drums  beating,  and  matches  alight,  the  garrison 
of  Limerick  marched  proudly  out  through  the  lines  of 
their  silent  if  triumphant  foes. 

By  the  Treaty  the  Irish  were  to  enjoy  full  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  and  those  who  had  fought  for  James  II. 
to  retain  their  estates  and  merely  be  required  to  take 
an  oath  of  allegiance  to  King  William  III.  instead  of  the 
oath  of  supremacy,  which  was  particularly  obnoxious  to 
Catholics.  Furthermore,  all  Irish  soldiers  who  wished 
to  go  should  be  allowed  a  free  passage  to  France. 

King  William  was  not  a  bad  man.  Had  he  had  his 
way  no  doubt  he  would  have  brought  peace  and  happiness 
to  Ireland  He  meant  to  faithfully  keep  the  promises 


178  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

he  made,  but  his  partisans  would  not  allow  him  to  do  so 
The  English  Parliament  did  not  intend  for  one  moment 
to  abide  by  the  conditions  of  the  Treaty  of  Limerick, 
but  to  break  them  at  the  first  chance  in  the  selfish  in- 
terests of  all  of  their  way  of  thinking  settled  in  the 
land. 

William,  too,  was  anxious  not  to  lose  this  splendid 
fighting  material  that  under  Sarsfield  had  given  him 
such  trouble  to  subdue,  and  Ginkle  was  instructed  to 
hold  out  promises  of  preferment  to  those  Irish  soldiers 
who  would  enlist  under  his  banner. 

The  14,000  Irish  infantry  had  filed,  "  into  the  great 
green  meadow  on  the  Clare  bank  of  the  Shannon,"  says 
Grant,  "  Printed  copies  of  Ginkle's  proclamation  were 
scattered  thickly  about,  and  many  British  officers  went 
through  the  ranks,  imploring  the  men  not  to  ruin  them- 
selves and  describing  to  them  the  advantages  which 
the  soldiers  of  King  William  enjoyed.  But  soon  the 
moment  for  decision  came.  They  were  ordered  to 
march  past  in  review  order.  .  Shirtless  and 

shoeless  they  might  be  then,  but  their  hearts  were 
stout  and  true.  First  marched  the  Royal  Regiment 
of  Ireland,  1,400  strong,  and  all  save  seven  passed  the 
fatal  point,  preferring  exile  with  their  king  to  relin- 
quishing the  faith  of  their  fathers."  (Grant.) 

In  all  only  1,046  men  out  of  the  14,000  elected  to 
join  the  British  army,  2,000  decided  to  retire  to  their 
homes,  and  a  solid  11,000,  with  Sarsfield  at  their  head, 
arrayed  themselves  beneath  the  banners  of  the  French 
under  the  Count  de  Chateau-Renaud. 

Altogether,  19,000  Irish  troops  set  sail  for  France, 
under  Sarsfield,  Wauchope,  and  their  gallant  French 


HOW  THEY  HEI,D  THE  BRIDGE  AT  ATHI/5NE.        179 

ally  at  Limerick,  D'Usson ;  and  no  sooner  were  the 
English  colonists  thus  safe  from  their  vengeance  than 
the  Treaty  of  Limerick  was  violated,  as  we  have  said. 
No  faith  was  to  be  kept  with  the  Irish,  against  whom 
worse  penal  laws  than  ever  were  now  passed  by  the 
English  Parliament  at  the  demand  of  the  English  and 
Scotch  settlers  and  for  the  unjust  benefit  of  these. 
Some  of  the  Protestant  Bishops  protested,  to  their 
credit  be  it  said,  against  this  infamous  conduct,  but 
their  expostulation  was  to  no  purpose.  The  cruellest 
laws  were  passed  against  the  Catholics,  so  that  it  would 
seem  to  have  been  the  vengeance  of  cowards,  who 
deemed  themselves  safe  now  from  those  19,000  Irish 
"  swordsmen  "  who  had  gone  into  exile. 

On  those  horrid  Penal  laws  we  will  just  briefly  touch, 
for  our  province  in  this  book  is  not  to  depress  or  sadden 
the  reader  but  to  inspire  him  with  admiration  for  the 
glory  and  romance  of  his  country.  Still,  let  us  point 
out  that  there  is  glory  and  romance  in  heroic  suffering 
equally  as  in  seeking  "  the  bubble  reputation  e'en  at  the 
cannon's  mouth "  ;  glory  and  romance  in  fortitude 
under  great  privation  and  trial,  as  well  as  in  charging 
to  victory  on  the  battlefield.  And  no  nation  has  come 
through  the  furnace  of  dire  suffering  so  bravely  as  the 
Irish  race.  Fire  tempers  the  steel ;  so  too,  trial  and 
suffering  ennoble  the  heart  and  spirit,  not  triumph  and 
the  tyranny  that  continuous  triumph  engenders. 

Under  the  Penal  Laws  all  Catholic  prelates,  clergy  and 
monks  had  to  quit  the  country  by  the  ist  of  May,  1698  ; 
a  Protestant  woman  marrying  a  Catholic  lost  all  her 
property  which  went  to  her  next  Protestant  heir ;  a 
priest  or  minister  marrying  such  a  couple  would  be 


l8o  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

imprisoned  for  a  year  and  fined  £20  ;  no  Catholic  could 
become  a  lawyer,  a  doctor,  or  a  member  of  Parliament, 
nor  yet  send  his  children  abroad  for  education,  although 
no  Catholic  could  be  a  school-teacher ;  no  Catholic 
could  buy  land  or  possess  a  horse  worth  more  than 

&>. 

What  happened  ?  The  Irish  remained  staunch  to 
their  religion  through  all  "  this  inhuman  tyranny — 
the  blackest  known  to  history."  In  lonely  caves  and 
remote  glens  the  people  met  in  secret  to  worship  God 
according  to  their  persecuted  religion,  and  often  priest 
and  people  were  attacked  by  the  soldiery  there,  when 
the  priest  was  butchered  on  the  altar  with  many  of 
his  faithful  and  devoted  flock. 

A  cruel  blow,  too,  was  dealt  at  Irish  trade  At  the 
instance  of  the  English  traders,  in  1699,  the  English 
Parliament  destroyed  the  Irish  woollen  industry, 
prohibiting  altogether  the  export  of  wool  from  Ireland, 
throwing  40,000  people  out  of  employment  and  reducing 
them  to  absolute  ruin. 

The  consequence  of  all  this  brutal  persecution  and 
injustice  was  that  the  country  was  overrun  more  than 
ever  by  bands  of  rapparees  or  tories.  Bands  of  armed 
men  went  abroad  at  night,  houghing  cattle,  mutilating 
sheep,  and  terrorising  or  murdering  English  settlers  in 
lonely  farms. 

But  let  us  leave  this  picture  of  savage  injustice  and 
equally  savage  reprisal,  of  cruel  persecution,  and  a 
noble,  suffering,  patient  people,  and  betake  ourselves 
to  the  shores  of  France  in  the  wake  of  the  Irish 
"  swordsmen  " 


PART   VII. 
THE  IRISH   BRIGADE. 

Oh,  Erin  !    In  thine  hour  of  need, 

Thy  warriors  wandered  o'er  the  earth 
For  others'  liberties  they  bled, 

Nor  guarded  the  land  that  gave  them  birth ; 
In  foreign  field  it  was  their  doom 
To  seek — their  fame  ;   to  find — their  tomb 

"  Oh,   Erin !  "   by  JOHN 


Now   England,    now   thy    bull-dog   courage    show — 

That  courage  ever  claimed  for  thee  alone ; 
This  is  no  weak  assault,  no  wavering  foe — 

The  Irish  wolf-dog  at  thy  throat  has  flown  ; 
Though  many  a  time  his  fangs  have  shed  thy  blood 

When  starved,  and  scourged,  and  kept  upon  the  chain 
On  equal  terms  he  ne'er  till  now  has  stood 

Before  thee  thus  upon  the  battle  plain." 

"  The  Battle  of  Fontenoy,"  by  W.  J.  CORBET,  M.P. 


SARSFIELD'S  DEATH  183 


CHAPTER  XX. 

SARSFIELD'S  DEATH. — How  THE  "  WILD  GEESE  "  SAVED 

CREMONA. 

The  19,000  Irish  soldiers  who  had  sailed  for  France 
"  were  joined  by  many  others,  who  in  the  years  and 
wars  that  were  to  follow  have  made  the  very  name 
of  the  Irish  Brigade  of  France  synonymous  with  all 
that  is  glorious  and  gallant." 

In  1692  there  were  no  less  than  30,000  Irish  soldiers 
in  France,  and  they  were  promptly  organised  into  what 
was  known  as  the  Irish  Brigade.  It  consisted  of  two 
troops  of  horse  guards,  two  regiments  of  foot  guards, 
two  regiments  of  dismounted  dragoons,  eight  regiments 
of  foot,  and  three  independent  companies.  Sarsfield 
commanded  the  second  troop  of  horse  guards  and  the 
Duke  of  Berwick  the  first. 

Almost  immediately  the  Brigade  were  in  action 
against  their  old  Williamite  foes,  and  their  first  battle 
was  a  victory  over  these,  the  battle  of  Steinkirk,  where 
William  III.  of  England  was  utterly  defeated  by  the 
French  under  Marshal  Luxembourg,  who  publicly 
thanked  Sarsfield  and  his  Irish  cavalry  for  his  share 
in  the  dashing  charge  that  bore  all  before  it. 

But  alas  !  on  July  29th,  1693,  was  fought  the  battle 
of  I^anden,  where  again,  although  the  English  were 


184  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

beaten,  after  a  most  stubborn  fight,  the  gallant  Sarsfield 
was  struck  down  by  a  musket  ball  at  the  head  of  his 
men,  in  the  hour  of  victory.  He  fell  from  his  horse 
mortally  wounded,  but  lingered  some  days,  when  he 
died. 

As  he  lay  on  the  battle-field  with  the  shouts  of  his 
victorious  comrades  ringing  in  his  ears,  the  shouts  that 
once  again  told  him  the  English  were  falling  back, 
beaten  and  discomfited,  he  put  his  hand  to  his  breast 
as  if  to  staunch  the  wound,  and,  drawing  it  away 
covered  with  blood,  looked  at  it  sorrowfully  and  said  : 

"  Oh  !     That  this  were  for  Ireland  !  " 

"  History,"  says  Thomas  Davis,  "  records  no  nobler 
saying." 

A  fine  and  inspiring  statue  of  Patrick  Sarsfield, 
than  which  there  is  no  nobler  name  on  Ireland's  long 
roll  of  heroic  spirits,  stands  in  that  city  which  he  twice 
so  gallantly  defended  against  his  country's  foes,  and  the 
name  of  which  must  ever  be  associated  with  his  own. 
When  one  thinks  of  Sarsfield  one  thinks  of  Limerick, 
and  vice  versa.  The  statue  represents  him  in  the  uniform 
of  the  period  in  heroic  pose  with  sword  and  arm  extended, 
the  light  of  battle  in  his  eyes  and  face,  leading  on  his 
men  to  victory.  It  stands  close  by  the  Black  Battery 
where  the  Prussian  Brandenburghers  were  almost 
annihilated  by  the  exploding  mine. 

After  Sarsfield's  death,  the  most  famous  officer  of  the 
Irish  Brigade  was  Donal  O'Brien,  Lord  Clare.  Thomas 
Davis  has  justly  celebrated  "  Clare's  Dragoons."  But 
this  splendid  body  of  horse  had  no  share  in  the  next 
most  brilliant  feat  of  the  Brigade.  We  refer  to  "  the 
world-famous  repulse  of  the  attack  on  Cremona  "  Of 


SARSFIELD'S  DEATH.  185 

that  unparalleled  feat,  James  Grant  gives  a  full  and 
exhaustive  account  in  his  "  British  Battles  on  Land  and 
Sea,"  and  thus  begins  the  chapter  :  "  Though  they  were 
not  serving  under  the  British  flag,  the  defence  of  Cre- 
mona by  the  Irish  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  deeds 
performed  at  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century." 

This  was  the  work  of  the  "  Old  Brigade,"  Mount- 
cashel's,  who  had  all  along  been  engaged  in  the  Italian 
campaign  and  had  not  fought  William  at  the  Boyne  or 
Limerick. 

Marshal  Villeroy  lay  in  comfortable,  too  comfortable 
quarters,  with  his  army,  in  the  well  fortified  city  of 
Cremona,  on  the  banks  of  the  Po  River.  There  were 
4,000  troops  in  the  place,  of  whom  only  600  were  Irish 
under  Colonels  Dillon  and  Burke.  Prince  Eugene  and 
the  Austrians  were  far  away,  and  the  city  believed  itself 
safe  from  attack.  But  one  Cassoli,  an  Italian  priest, 
having  no  love  for  the  French,  entered  into  corres- 
pondence with  Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy,  and  offered  to 
deliver  the  place  into  Austrian  hands.  Father  Cassoli 
lived  near  the  gate  of  St.  Margaret  which,  being  disused, 
had  been  bricked  up.  An  old  Roman  sewer,  broad  and 
lofty,  passed  under  the  city  walls,  too,  just  there,  and 
came  up  under  Father  Cassoli's  house. 

On  the  night  of  February  2nd,  1702,  Cassoli  secretly 
admitted  a  party  of  Austrian  soldiers,  disguised  as 
artisans,  through  this  sewer  into  his  house.  They 
promptly  broke  down  the  green  masonry  of  the  adjoining 
gate,  and,  like  a  living  flood,  in  poured  Prince  Eugene's 
army,  horse  and  foot,  which  had  crept  up  to  the  walls 
without,  undetected  by  the  French  who  were  keeping 
most  indifferent  guard. 


186  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

The  night  was  bitterly  cold  and  sleeting  and  snowing. 
Dispersing  quickly  through  the  various  avenues,  the 
Austrians  proceeded  to  possess  themselves  of  every 
post  of  vantage  and  surprise  the  sleeping  French. 
At  the  Po  gate,  close  by,  was  a  guard  of  35  Irishmen, 
the  only  guard  apparently  keeping  anything  like  proper 
watch  in  the  whole  city,  for  their  officer,  Major  Daniel 
O'Mahony  was  a  great  martinet  or  disciplinarian. 
The  35  promptly  fired  on  the  on-coming  Imperialists, 
and  then  took  refuge  behind  a  stockade  where  they  were 
invulnerable,  and  against  which  their  assailants  in  vain 
raged.  Half  the  35  thrust  their  bayonets  between  the 
palisades,  while  their  comrades  reloaded.  They  poured 
in  volley  after  volley,  hurling  back  Count  de  Merci 
and  his  Austrian  grenadiers,  as  well  as  an  attack  from 
250  dragoons. 

The  firing  aroused  the  French  everywhere.  But  as 
they  turned  out  many  of  them  were  shot  down  and  cut 
to  pieces  by  the  Austrians,  now  swarming — horse  and 
foot — through  every  street.  Marshal  Villeroy,  rushing 
out  of  his  hotel,  was  captured  by  an  Irish  officer  in  the 
Austrian  service,  a  Captain  McDonnell,  a  Mayo  man. 
Frantically  the  Marshal  offered  McDonnell  10,000 
pistoles,  a  pension  of  2,000  crowns  annually  and  the 
command  of  a  French  cavalry  regiment  if  he  would 
release  him. 

But  Captain  McDonnell,  though  he  had  nothing  to 
live  on  but  his  pay  as  a  captain,  proudly  replied  to  these 
tempting  offers : 

"  Monsieur,  I  prefer  honour  to  fortune,  and  shall 
maintain  my  honour  untarnished  by  any  such  treachery 
as  you  desire  to  seduce  me  into.  You  are  my  prisoner, 


SARSFIELD'S  DEATH.  187 

Monsieur,  and  as  such  it  is  my  duty  to  deliver  you  up 
to  those  I  serve,  and  I  will  certainly  perform  that  duty." 

The  check  at  the  Po  gate  enabled  the  rest  of  the  Irish, 
the  two  battalions  of  Dillon  and  Burke  to  turn  out  and 
come  to  the  relief  of  their  guard.  Major  O'Mahony 
made  them  turn  out  only  half  dressed,  in  spite  of  the 
cold  and  sleet.  In  shirts  and  trousers,  with  their 
muskets  and  bayonets,  the  Irishmen  charged  Count  de 
Merci  and  drove  him  back,  then  turned  two  guns  on  the 
Imperialists  and  cleared  the  street. 

Prince  de  Vaudemont,  one  of  Eugene's  lieutenants, 
was  outside  the  Po  gate  with  2,000  cavalry  and  3,000 
infantry,  but  through  De  Merci's  set-back  he  could  not 
get  into  the  city,  and  the  Irish  at  the  gate  now  broke 
down  the  bridge  outside  and  effectually  barred  his 
hopes  of  entering.  Some  of  the  French  under  the  Count 
Revel  rallied  and  managed  to  recover  a  post  in  another 
part  of  the  city,  from  which  they  began  to  slowly  drive 
back  the  Austrians. 

In  desperation,  Prince  Eugene  hurled  cavalry  and 
foot  in  succession  against  the  Irish  600  at  the  Po  gate. 
But  these  held  all  the  approaches  thither  and  success- 
fully flung  back  every  attempt  to  reach  it.  Vaudemont 
was  helpless  with  his  5,000  on  the  other  side.  Eugene 
sent  McDonnell  to  try  and  induce  his  fellow-Irishmen 
to  surrender  on  promise  of  a  large  sum  of  money  and 
service  under  himself  at  higher  pay. 

O'Mahony,  enraged  at  such  an  infamous  proposal, 
arrested  McDonnell,  saying  he  had  no  right  to  attempt 
to  thus  suborn  loyal  men.  Eugene  then  tried  to  induce 
Villeroy,  his  prisoner,  to  send  a  message  to  the  Irish  to 
lay  down  their  arms. 


1 88  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

"  I  am  no  longer  their  general,  and  may  not,"  smilingly 
answered  Villeroy. 

Count  Revel  managed  to  communicate  with  O'Mahony, 
and  directed  the  Irish  to  try  and  cut  their  way  through 
the  foe  to  his  assistance.  Although  the  houses  lining 
the  streets  were  filled  with  Austrian  marksmen,  the 
Irish  almost  forced  their  way  through,  and  at  last, 
after  eight  hours'  incessant  fighting,  finding  it  impossible 
to  hold  the  city,  Prince  Eugene  withdrew  his  troops 
out  of  the  gate  by  which  he  had  entered  He  carried 
off  Marshal  Villeroy  and  about  500  French  officers 
and  men  whom  he  had  taken  prisoners,  but  he  left 
more  than  2,000  of  his  own  troops  dead  in  the 
streets. 

The  Irish  had  saved  Cremona,  but  at  heavy  loss  to 
themselves.  Of  their  brave  600,  they  lost  239  dead  or 
prisoners.  Burke's  regiment  lost  16  officers  and  92 
soldiers,  while  Dillon's  regiment,  led  by  the  gallant 
O'Mahony,  lost  13  officers  and  118  rank  and  file 

Count  de  Revel  fell  on  O'Mahony's  neck  and  kissed 
him  there  in  the  corpse-strewn  public  square  where  they 
met ;  then  sent  him  to  bear  the  news  of  his  glorious 
exploit  to  Louis  XIV.  The  Grand  Monarque  received 
O'Mahony  with  high  honour  and  created  him  a  colonel 
and  a  count  of  France,  with  a  pension,  and  sent  special 
thanks  to  the  two  Irish  regiments  through  him,  raising 
their  pay  forthwith. 

Count  O'Mahony  subsequently  rose  to  the  rank  of 
Major-General,  and  achieved  further  distinction  at 
Almanza  and  other  places. 

At  Blenheim,  although  the  English  under  Marlborough 
defeated  the  French,  the  Irish  covered  themselves  with 


SARSFIELD'S  DEATH.  189 

glory   by   cutting  a   German   regiment  to  pieces,  and 
Clare's  Dragoons  sustained   the  retreat.     The    gallant 
Lord  Clare,  however,  was  killed,  receiving  nine  wounds 
in  the  still  more  disastrous  defeat  of  RamiUies. 


1 90  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

LACY    AND    WOGAN. — THE    CROWNING    VICTORY    OF 
FONTENOY. — COUNT  LAU,Y. 

But  not  all  the  "  Wild  Geese,"  as  these  Irish  exiles 
were  affectionately  called  in  Ireland,  fought  for  France, 
as  we  have  shown  in  the  case  of  Captain  MacDonnell, 
who  was  in  the  Austrian  service.  Field-Marshal  Count 
Peter  Lacy,  for  instance,  also  won  lasting  fame  in 
Russia.  He  had  taken  part  in  the  siege  of  Limerick 
and  accompanied  Sarsfield  to  France.  He  then  joined 
the  service  of  Peter  the  Great  and  fought  against  the 
Swedes,  being  brigadier-general  at  the  famous  battle 
of  Pultowa,  where  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden  was  crushed. 
Later,  he  was  made  General-in-Chief  of  Russian  infantry, 
and  next  we  find  him  fighting  against  the  Poles  and 
placing  a  new  king  on  the  throne  of  that  country. 
In  1737,  he  was  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
Russian  army  and  conducted  campaigns  against  the 
Khan  of  the  Crimea  and  the  Swedes  respectively, 
eventually  dying  peacefully  in  his  bed  at  the  age  of  73, 
on  his  estates  in  Livonia. 

In  the  Spanish  service,  O'Donnells,  O'Neills,  O'Reillys, 
and  Blakes  and  O'Farrells  rose  to  eminence,  and  there 
were  no  less  than  five  Irish  regiments  at  one  time. 

Another  of  the  famous  Irish  exiles  at  this  period 


LACY    AND    WOGAN 

was  Chevalier  Charles  Wogan,  who  took  part  in  the 
Elder  Pretender's  or  "  First  Jacobite  "  Rising  of  1715 
in  England.  He  was  captured  at  Preston,  but  escaped 
with  half  a  dozen  others  from  Newgate  Gaol  in  the  heart 
of  London,  by  a  bold  dash  overpowering  the  guards 
and  throwing  open  the  gates.  In  1718,  the  Pretender, 
or  James  III.,  was  to  marry  Princess  Maria  Clementina 
Sobieski,  grand-daughter  of  the  famous  Polish  patriot 
king,  John  Sobieski,  a  most  lovely  woman,  as  her 
portraits  testify.  She  eventually  married  James  and 
became  the  mother  of  "  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie,"  the 
"  Young  Pretender." 

But  it  was  England's  interest  to  prevent  the  proposed 
match,  and  the  Princess  Clementina  was  arrested  with  her 
mother  by  the  Austrian  Emperor  at  the  instance  of 
England  and  imprisoned  at  Innspruck.  Wogan  deter- 
mined to  effect  her  release,  and  with  three  brother  Irish 
officers,  Major  Gaydon,  Captain  O'Toole  and  Captain 
John  Misset,  with  the  wife  and  maid  of  the  last-men- 
tioned, set  out  disguised  for  Innspruck,  using  forged 
passports. 

Arrived  at  Innspruck,  Wogan  contrived  to  pass  a 
letter  in  to  the  princess,  and  the  escape  was  arranged 
for  April  27th,  1719.  On  that  night  Mrs.  Misset's  maid 
changed  clothes  with  the  princess,  who  was  supposed 
to  be  confined  to  her  bed  with  illness,  and  now  stole 
out  of  the  castle  in  the  midst  of  a  storm  of  hail  and  snow 
Wogan  and  his  companions  were  waiting  outside  with 
a  postchaise  and  horses  handy.  Away  they  galloped 
at  top  speed  through  the  night,  the  princess  and  Mrs. 
Misset  in  the  chaise,  Gaydon  driving,  and  Wogan  riding 
alongside,  with  O'Toole  and  Misset  following  at  some 


I Q2  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

distance  to  intercept  any  one  carrying  tidings  of  the 
escape  or  any  pursuit.  They  made  for  Rome,  where 
Clementina  married  James. 

Wogan  and  his  companions  were  created  Roman 
senators  by  the  Pope,  an  honour  hitherto  reserved  for 
royal  personages  and  men  of  distinguished  bravery  or 
merit.  Wogan  afterwards  fought  against  the  Moors 
and  died  in  1747,  a  governor  of  one  of  the  Spanish 
provinces 

"  The  crowning  victory  of  the  Irish  Brigade,  the 
brightest  star  in  the  glittering  firmament  of  their  military 
glory"  (T  McCarthy),  was  FONTENOY.  Who  of 
Irish  blood  has  not  heard  of  it  ?  It  is  "  a  name  which 
to  this  day  thrills  the  Irish  heart  with  pride,"  wrote 
A.  M.  Sullivan  ;  and,  as  John  Mitchel  said,  "  it  was 
an  event  in  the  history  of  Ireland." 

On  May  nth,  1745,  the  English  and  their  allies,  to 
the  number  of  55,000  men,  faced  the  French  under 
Marshal  Saxe  and  King  Louis  XV.  in  person,  numbering 
40,000  at  Fontenoy,  a  small  village  near  Tournay,  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Scheldt.  The  Duke  of  Cumberland, 
King  George's  brutal  son,  known  as  the  "  Butcher  of 
Culloden  "  afterwards,  for  his  cruelty  to  the  followers 
of  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie,  was  in  command  of  the 
English  and  their  allies.  The  French  had  been  besieging 
Tournay  and  the  Allies  were  marching  to  relieve  it. 

All  the  Irish  regiments  in  the  French  service — the 
entire  Irish  Brigade,  strange  to  say — were  present, 
under  Charles  O'Brien,  Lord  Clare  and  Earl  of  Thomond. 
The  Dutch  attacked  the  French  right  at  St.  Antoine, 
and  the  English  and  Hanoverians  the  French  centre  and 
left.  On  the  right  the  Dutch  were  driven  back  ;  but 


I,ACY    AND    WOGAN.  193 

Cumberland  formed  his  division  into  a  solid  column  or 
phalanx  of  15,000  men,  with  seven  cannon  in  its  front, 
and  as  many  on  either  flank,  and  thus,  marching  steadily 
forward,  with  regular  volleys  forced  his  way,  in  spite 
of  a  withering  fire,  past  all  the  redoubts  right  up  to  and 
into  the  French  centre.  Every  attempt  on  the  part 
of  the  French  cavalry  and  infantry  to  break  up  or  stop 
the  progress  of  that  solid  column  of  English  and  Germans 
was  vain.  Broken  and  disordered,  the  finest  troops 
of  France  had  to  recoil  before  the  merciless  fire  of  the 
English  cannon  and  the  steady  volleys  from  its  front 
and  flanks. 

All  seemed  lost,  many  of  the  French  troops  were 
already  in  flight,  and  King  L,ouis  was  preparing  to  seek 
his  own  safety,  when  Colonel  I/ally  of  the  Irish  Brigade 
came  galloping  up  to  the  Duke  de  Richelieu,  a  royal 
favourite,  and  suggested  that  four  guns  held  in  reserve 
be  used  to  batter  in  the  head  of  the  English  column 
and  then  that  the  Irish  Brigade  charge  the  enemy  in 
flank,  backed  up  by  the  French  cavalry. 

Richelieu  carried  the  suggestion  to  Marshal  Saxe, 
who  instantly  acted  upon  it,  and  word  was  sent  to  I/ord 
Clare  to  charge.  Only  the  Irish  foot  took  part  in  the 
charge,  to  the  number  of  nearly  6,000  men  ;  the  cavalry 
were  elsewhere  with  the  French  horse.  The  English 
formed  the  right  of  the  phalanx,  the  Hanoverians  the 
left,  and  it  was  against  the  right  flank  that  the  Irish 
Brigade  were  flung,  Thus,  by  a  strange  coincidence, 
the  old-time  foes  met  once  again  in  a  most  decisive 
struggle. 

Clad  in  scarlet  uniforms  with  white  breeches,  the 
seven  regiments  of  Irishmen  advanced  as  if  on  parade, 


194  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

reserving  their  fire  until  the  order  to  charge  was  given. 
Then,  pouring  in  a  well-delivered  volley  from  every 
musket  which  sent  the  English  tumbling  over  each  other 
in  dozens,  they  closed  with  the  bayonet,  to  the  thun- 
derous shout  of : 

"  Cuimhnigidh  ar  I/uimneac  agus  fheile  na  Sassenach  ! 
("  Remember  Limerick  and  British  faith  or  perfidy  !  ") 

Terrific  was  the  impact ;  and  like  water,  the  English 
broke  before  the  Irish  bayonets  in  spite  of  the  desperate 
efforts  of  their  officers  to  hold  them  together. 
"  Through  shattered  ranks  and  sever'd  files  and  trampled 
flags,"  the  Irish  tore,  sweeping  all  before  them.  The 
English  were  hurled  back  on  the  Hanoverians,  throwing 
them  into  confusion  ;  and  like  a  child's  sand  castle 
before  an  inrush  of  the  tide,  or  a  house  of  cards  with  its 
foundations  knocked  away,  the  whole  mighty  and 
hitherto  invincible  column  of  15,000  men  crumpled 
up,  fell  to  pieces,  was  swept  together  confusedly  and 
away  back,  down  the  hillside  it  had  so  proudly  mounted, 
leaving  a  dreadful  littered  track  of  dead  and  dying, 
lost  cannon,  banners,  drums,  muskets,  accoutrements, 
and  carriages.  15  of  the  20  cannons  were  captured. 
These  were  turned  upcn  the  tumbling,  disordered,  fleeing 
masses,  adding  to  their  panic.  The  French  cavalry 
"  dashed  in  upon  their  track  "  and  the  rout  was  complete. 

In  ten  minutes  it  was  all  over ;  and,  as  Thomas  Davis 
wrote — 

"  On  Fontenoy,  on  Fontenoy,  like  eagles  in  the  sun, 
With  bloody  plumes  the  Irish  stand — the  field  is  fought 
and  won !  " 

But  the  heavy  fire  maintained  by  the  English  upon  the 
Brigade  when  advancing  to  the  charge  cost  it  dear — 


LACY   AND    WOGAN.  IQ5 

98  officers  and  400  men  killed  and  wounded.  The 
French  lost  7,000  and  the  Allies  21,000,  of  which  last 
number  the  English  lost  nearly  8,000  killed  and  wounded, 
and  more  than  2,000  prisoners,  so  that  the  Irish  loss  was 
very  insignificant  after  all,  compared  with  that  of  their 
hereditary  foes. 

"  The  Duke  of  Cumberland  was  never  able  to  face 
the  enemy  again "  (Grant)  ;  and  Ghent,  Bruges, 
Ostend  and  Oudenarde  at  once  surrendered  to  the 
French.  King  lyouis  rode  down  to  the  bivouac  of  the 
Irish  that  night  and  thanked  them  personally,  and 
when  the  English  King,  George  II.,  heard  of  the  defeat 
of  his  army  by  the  Irish  exiles,  "  he  uttered  that  memor- 
able imprecation  on  the  penal  code — '  Cursed  be  the 
laws  which  deprive  me  of  such  subjects  !  '  When 
Bonnie  Prince  Charlie  drew  his  sword  before  the  disas- 
trous fight  of  Culloden,  he  cried  :  "  Come,  gentlemen, 
let  us  give  Cumberland  another  Fontenoy  !  " 

It  was  Fontenoy,  too,  which  encouraged  Prince  Charlie 
to  make  his  bold  and  romantic  attempt  to  recover  the 
lost  crown  of  his  grandfather.  His  chief  of  command 
was  Colonel  O'Sullivan,  and  Irishmen  helped  him  with 
both  money  and  a  ship. 

Colonel  Count  I,ally-Tollendal,  who  had  so  distin- 
guished himself  at  Fontenoy,  achieved  still  greater 
renown.  His  family  had  come  from  Galway.  .Born  in 
1702,  he  was  the  son  of  Sir  Gerald  L,ally  who  had  fought 
under  Sarsfield  and  gone  into  exile  after  limerick. 
He  tried  to  raise  an  army  for  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie, 
and,  on  the  collapse  of  the  latter's  "  rising,"  he  went  to 
India.  In  1758,  he  was  commander-in-chief  of  the 
French  possessions  there,  and  did  his  best  to  drive  the 


IQ6  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

English  out  of  the  country.  Had  he  been  well  sup- 
ported, he  might  have  done  so.  As  it  was,  hampered 
and  betrayed  by  his  French  comrades-in-arms,  deserted 
by  the  French  Government  at  home,  he  was  defeated 
by  the  English  at  Wandewash  and  subsequently  obliged 
to  surrender  Pondicherry,  which  town  nevertheless  he 
gallantly  defended  until  starving. 

On  his  return  to  France  his  powerful  enemies  con- 
trived to  have  him  thrown  into  the  Bastile,  and  even- 
tually condemned  and  executed.  In  1778,  however, 
I^ouis  XVI.  cancelled  the  decree  of  attainder  against 
him  as  unjust  and  illegal,  and  restored  to  his  son  the 
honours  he  had  been  deprived  of. 

Colonel  Count  Daniel  O'Connell,  the  Liberator's 
uncle,  was  the  last  distinguished  officer  of  the  Irish 
Brigade,  which  was  disbanded  by  the  French  Republic 
in  1792  because  it  had  remained  faithful  to  the  French 
royal  family.  In  that  same  year  it  had  been  presented 
by  the  Bourbon  prince,  who  afterwards  became  Louis 
XVIII.,  with  a  flag  bearing  an  Irish  harp  and  the  words 
"  1692-1792,  Semper  et  Ubique  fidelis  "  (Ever  and  every- 
where faithful.) 


PART   VIII. 
THE  DAYS   OF   GRATTAN. 

The  soggarths  led,  the  pikemen  fought 

Like  lions  brought  to  bay, 
And  Wexford  proved  her  prowess  well. 

In  many  a  bloody  fray, 
Where    wronged    and   wronger   foot    to   foot, 

In  deadly  grip  was  seen, 
And  England's  hated  red  went  down 

Before  the  Irish  green. 

The  Priests  of  Ninety-Eight,"  by  REV.  P.  M. 


At  the  Siege  of  Ross  did  my  father  fall, 
And  at  Gorey  my  loving  brothers  all, 
I  am  the  last  of  my  name  and  race, 
And  I  go  to  Wexford  to  take  their  place. 

"  The  Croppy  Boy/'  by  CARROIA  MAI.ONB. 


THUROT'S  RAID.  199 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THUROT'S  RAID. — THE  IRISH  VOLUNTEERS. — GRATTAN 
AND  FLOOD. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  England 
was  alarmed  by  rumours  of  a  threatened  French  in- 
vasion, and  sure  enough  a  daring  French  commodore, 
named  Fra^ois  Thurot,  but  who  was  really  an  Irishman 
named  O'Farrell,  continually  ravaged  the  British  coasts, 
until  his  "  name  was  a  terror  and  byword  from  south 
of  Berwick  to  north  of  Caithness."  He  was  called 
"  The  Corsair  "  and  he  swept  British  shipping  from  the 
North  Sea. 

"  This  man's  name  became  a  terror  to  the  merchants 
of  Britain,"  wrote  Smollett,  "  for  his  valour  was  not 
more  remarkable  in  battle  than  his  conduct  in  eluding 
the  British  cruisers.  ...  It  must  be  likewise 
owned  .  .  .  that  this  bold  mariner,  though  des- 
titute of  the  advantages  of  birth,  was  remarkably 
distinguished  by  his  generosity  and  compassion  to  those 
who  had  the  misfortune  to  fall  into  his  power,  and  that 
his  deportment  in  every  respect  entitled  him  to  more 
honourable  rank  in  the  service  of  his  country." 

With  the  Friponne,  a  corvette,  he  captured  "  upwards 
of  sixty  "  English  merchant  ships.  He  was  then  given 
two  frigates  and  two  corvettes,  and  with  this  little 


20O  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

squadron  of  five  ships  he  infested  the  coast  of  Scotland 
in  May,  1758.  Off  Leith,  with  two  ships,  he  fought  an 
English  squadron  of  four  all  most  heavily  armed,  and 
left  it  so  badly  mauled  that  it  could  hardly  crawl  into 
port.  Covered  with  glory  by  this  and  other  successes, 
he  was  presented  by  King  I^ouis  XV.  to  Madame  de 
Pompadour,  and  he  was  entrusted  with  another  squad- 
ron of  five  frigates  and  a  corvette,  and  despatched  from 
Dunkirk  to  ravage  the  Irish  coast. 

One  of  his  ships  foundered  at  sea,  and  another,  having 
to  throw  all  its  guns  overboard  to  prevent  doing  the  same, 
returned  home.  Thurot  or  O'Farrell,  on  the  2ist  of 
February,  1760,  sailed  into  Carrickfergus  Bay  and, 
lying  off  Island  Magee,  of  ill-repute  in  Irish  history — 
notable  for  an  alleged  dreadful  massacre  by  the  Scotch 
Puritans  in  1642, — he  landed  in  his  boats  with  1,000 
men,  and  captured  the  castle  from  Colonel  Jennings 
and  the  garrison  of  150  soldiers.  The  Corsair 
levied  rations  from  the  town  and  the  merchants  of 
Belfast,  threatening  to  burn  the  latter  place,  and  he 
carried  off  two  vessels,  laden  with  linen,  from  Belfast 
Lough. 

After  remaining  at  Carrickfergus  for  five  days,  he 
sailed  off,  and  near  the  Isle  of  Man  encountered  the 
English  fleet.  A  terrible  conflict  ensued,  'in  which 
Thurot  "  fought  with  the  fury  of  despair  till  a  musket- 
ball  stretched  him  on  the  deck  in  mortal  agony."  By 
that  time  his  little  squadron  was  more  or  less  disabled. 
He  was  only  33,  and  died  in  the  arms  of  his  wife,  an 
English  lady,  who  was  with  him.  His  body  was  buried 
on  the  Scottish  coast,  and  we  are  told  that  the  peasant 
girls  of  Wigton  and  Galloway  "  still  remember  him  in 


THUROT'S  RAID.  201 

their  songs  as  the  gallant  and  gentle  Thurret,  for  so 
they  pronounce  his  name." 

In  1761  first  appeared  the  Whiteboys,  gangs  of  "  moon- 
lighters "  who  wore  linen  frocks  over  their  coats.  They 
were  suppressed  by  the  military,  but  rose  again  in 
1786  and  1822.  The  Insurrection  Act  was  passed  to 
deal  with  them  in  the  latter  year. 

With  the  breaking  out  of  the  American  War  of 
Independence  in  1775,  a  whole  host  of  American  and 
French  privateers  appeared  off  the  coast,  chief  amongst 
them  being  Paul  Jones,  the  terrible  Scotchman  flying 
the  American  flag,  the  young  republic's  first  admiral. 
He  also,  after  many  depredations  and  exploits  on  the 
English  and  Scottish  coasts,  entered  Carrickfergus  Bay, 
where  he  fought  and  sank  an  English  ship  of  war. 

It  was  England's  difficulty  and  Ireland's  oppor- 
tunity. With  one  voice  the  Irish  people,  Protestant 
and  Catholic  alike,  demanded  that,  as  England  could 
not  protect  them  against  foreign  attacks  and  possible 
invasion,  they  should  be  allowed  to  organise  a  volunteer 
force.  Belfast  immediately  started  enrolling  men,  and 
within  a  year  there  were  some  40,000  men  under  arms. 
These  were  supplied  them  grudgingly  by  the  Govern- 
ment, but  they  provided  their  own  uniforms  and  elected 
their  own  officers.  Among  the  officers  were  most  of 
the  public  men  of  the  day.  The  famous  and  patriotic 
Henry  Grattan  and  the  equally  patriotic  Henry  Flood 
were  colonels,  while  James  Caulfield,  the  Earl  of 
Charlemont,  was  given  supreme  command,  with  I/ord 
Clanricarde  and  the  Duke  of  Leinster  in  authority 
under  him. 

Henry  Grattan,  who  was  a  member  of  parliament 


202  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

for  Charlemont  at  29  years  of  age,  and  had  raised  him- 
self to  the  position  of  leader  of  the  "  Patriot  Party  " 
by  his  wonderful  oratorical  powers,  moved  in  1778  an 
address  to  the  King  to  the  effect  "  that  the  state  of 
Ireland  required  to  be  urgently  considered."  The 
Government  opposed  him,  but  before  the  year  was  out 
a  Catholic  Relief  Bill  was  passed,  allowing  Catholics 
to  take  land  on  lease,  "  and  to  inherit  land  in  the  same 
way  as  Protestants." 

Grattan  also  agitated  for  the  removal  of  the  res- 
trictions and  disabilities  imposed  on  Irish  trade  by  the 
English  Parliament,  and  to  obtain  liberty  of  conscience 
for  all  Irishmen.  He  was,  of  course,  a  Protestant  ; 
otherwise  he  could  not  have  sat  in  Parliament  at  that 
time.  He  was  the  son  of  the  Recorder  of  Dublin. 

The  English  manufacturers,  those  of  Manchester, 
Liverpool  and  Bristol,  "  shouted  themselves  hoarse 
with  rage  and  even  threatened  to  take  up  arms,"  if 
the  disabilities  were  removed.  Thereupon  the  Volun- 
teers, on  the  4th  of  November,  1779,  mustered  round 
the  statue  of  William  III.  in  College  Green,  Dublin, 
and  paraded  with  arms  in  their  hands  and  cannon, 
bearing  on  the  muzzles  labels  with  the  significant 
and  patriotic  legend,  "  Free  trade  or  this."  The  cannon 
roared  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  onlookers.  It 
was  a  grand  day  for  Ireland.  The  captive  warrior 
queen  had  raised  her  head  proudly  once  again  for  all 
"  her  blood-clotted  chain." 

Henry  Flood,  who  had  accepted  a  place  under  the 
Government,  supported  the  motion  in  Parliament  with 
Hussey  Burgh,  the  Prime  Sergeant,  and  the  Government 
had  to  consent  to  it  as  also  to  a  second  motion  in  both 


THUROT'S  RAID.  203 

Houses  thanking  the  Volunteers  for  their  patriotic 
conduct. 

The  address  was  sent  to  England,  but  an  evasive 
reply  was  returned.  Thereupon  Grattan  and  Hussey 
Burgh  carried  a  motion  refusing  any  new  taxes.  The 
English  Parliament  yielded,  and  Irish  exports  were  free. 

But  the  Patriot  Party  were  not  yet  satisfied.  They 
were  determined  to  win  the  absolute  independence  of 
the  Irish  Parliament  from  English  control,  and  to  this 
end  the  great  Henry  Grattan  worked  tooth  and  nail, 
joined  now  again  by  Henry  Flood,  who  had  thrown 
up  his  office  under  Government. 

A  great  convention  of  the  Ulster  Volunteers  was 
held  in  the  Protestant  Church  of  Dungannon  on  Feb- 
ruary I5th,  1782,  and,  amid  the  utmost  enthusiasm, 
the  national  demands,  as  voiced  by  the  immortal 
Grattan,  were  endorsed.  The  Dungannon  Convention 
was  followed,  to  Grattan's  joy,  by  the  repeal  of  still 
more  of  the  harsh  penal  laws  against  Catholics.  A 
Catholic  might  now  have  a  horse  worth  more  than  £5, 
teach  in  school,  etc. 

The  whole  country  was  united  in  its  resolution  to  be 
free  and  independent  of  England  ;  and  in  the  face  of  this 
determined  attitude  of  the  Irish  people,  backed,  as  it 
was  by  the  unequivocal  support  of  100,000  armed  and 
trained  Volunteers,  the  English  Government  gave  way, 
dreading,  no  doubt,  that  Ireland  might  follow  the  action 
of  the  lately  revolted  American  colonies  and  break 
away  by  force  otherwise. 

On  the  i6th  of  May,  1782,  the  Duke  of  Portland,  who 
was  Lord  Lieutenant,  announced  THE  PARLIAMENTARY 

OR    LEGISLATIVE    INDEPENDENCE    OF    IRELAND. 


204  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

The  country  went  mad  with  joy  ;  but  Flood,  more 
circumspect  and  far-seeing  than  the  generous-hearted 
Grattan,  contended  that  the  English  Parliament  still 
maintained  its  supremacy  over  the  Irish  Parliament 
and  demanded  that  this  supremacy  be  renounced  by 
England.  Grattan  called  him  ungenerous  and  un- 
grateful, and  they  quarrelled  bitterly,  on  which 
English  statesmen  must  have  rejoiced  greatly,  for 
united  they  were  invincible,  whereas  now  the  country 
was  divided  by  factionism.  However,  Flood  won  his 
point  and  forced  England  to  pass  the  "  Act  of  Renun- 
ciation," renouncing  its  supremacy  over  the  Irish  Parlia- 
ment and  declaring  it  to  be  entirely  free  in  matters  of 
legislature  and  judicature. 

The  Volunteer  organisation,  deprived  now  of  its 
raison  d'etre,  dwindled,  and  fell  to  pieces,  most  un- 
happily for  later  times.  Grattan  next  advocated  Catholic 
Emancipation,  and  Flood  opposed  it.  With  regard  to 
this  Irish  Parliament  the  Commons  consisted  of  300 
members,  of  whom  64  represented  counties,  and  172 
were  returned  for  boroughs,  which  were  mostly  pocket- 
boroughs,  that  is,  they  were  owned  by  a  few  peers  or 
wealthy  gentlemen  who  bought  and  sold  them,  like 
articles  of  commerce,  to  place-hunters,  and  toadies. 
The  people  had  very  little  voice  in  the  election  of  their 
representatives  at  all. 

In  1783,  therefore,  Flood  brought  in  a  Parliamentary 
Reform  Bill  to  ensure  popular  representation,  although 
it  contained  no  suggestion  of  Catholic  enfranchisement. 
The  Volunteers  supported  the  Bill  and  assembled  in 
force  at  the  Rotunda,  whereupon  the  Commons  rejected 
it  on  the  score  that  it  was  presented  "  under  the  man- 


THUROT  S  RAID.  205 

date  of  a  military  convention."  The  Volunteers  very 
weakly  dissolved  and  did  nothing,  I/ord  Charlemont, 
their  leader,  not  having  in  him  the  makings  of  a  great 
spirit.  "  From  that  time  forward  the  Volunteers 
ceased  to  influence  public  affairs."  (Murphy.) 

Flood  retired  from  the  Irish  Parliament  and  went 
to  England  and  was  elected  to  the  English  House  of 
Commons  as  member  for  Winchester.  But  he  died 
shortly  after  in  1791. 

Gangs  of  the  worst  type  of  Protestants,  in  1784, 
drunken  ruffians,  calling  themselves  "  Peep-o'-Day 
Boys,"  went  about  the  country  in  the  dead  of  night,  or, 
as  their  name  implied,  just  at  dawn,  visiting  the  houses 
of  Catholics,  and  on  the  pretence  of  searching  for  arms, 
terrorising  and  maltreating  the  inhabitants.  In  self- 
defence  the  Catholic  farmers  banded  themselves  together 
under  the  name  of  "  Defenders,"  and  furious  conflicts 
ensued,  when  any  of  the  rival  factions  met.  The  worst 
fight  was  the  so-called  "  Battle  of  the  Diamond,"  in 
September,  1795,  at  the  hamlet  of  that  name  in  Armagh. 
Many  "  Defenders  "  were  killed,  and  to  commemorate 
this  conflict  the  first  Orange  L,odge  was  formed  imme- 
diately after,  and  so  the  Orangemen  or  Orange  Society 
came  into  being. 

Other  secret  societies  about  this  time  were  the 
"  Oakboys,"  and  "  the  Hearts  of  Steel,"  or  "  Steelboys." 
These  were  Protestant  farmers  banding  themselves 
together  to  resist  the  encroachments  or  exactions  of 
landlords,  for  the  most  part.  The  Oakboys  wore  green 
branches  of  oak  in  their  hats. 


206  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

WOLFE  TONE  AND  THE   "  UNITED   IRISHMEN." — THE 
FRENCH  INVASION  OF  1796. — "  REMEMBER  ORR." 

Ireland  had  won  a  free  and  independent  Parliament, 
thanks  to  Grattan  and  the  Volunteers,  and  this  Parlia- 
ment is  often  referred  to  as  "  Grattan's  Parliament." 
But,  as  we  have  already  pointed  out,  it  did  not  fairly 
represent  the  country.  The  great  mass  of  the  people, 
the  Catholics,  were  not  represented  in  it  at  all,  a  Catholic 
not  being  allowed  to  sit  in  it.  And  the  Protestants  were 
not  fairly  represented,  either.  The  seats,  as  we  explained 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  were  mostly  pocket  boroughs, 
in  the  power  of  the  great  landholders  and  Ministers  of 
the  Crown,  to  give  to  their  own  tools.  Very  few  even 
of  the  Protestant  section  of  the  population  had  votes 
at  all.  Moreover,  the  Government  were  all  nominees 
of  the  English  crown  or  English  cabinet,  and  so  really 
not  much  could  be  expected  from  such  a  venal  legis- 
lature until  sweeping  alterations  were  made  in  it. 

With  a  view  to  obtaining  parliamentary  reform,  in 
the  first  place — to  peacefully  agitating  for  vote  by 
ballot,  household  suffrage  and  the  enfranchisement 
of  Catholics  as  well  as  repeal  of  the  penal  laws  against 
them,  a  young  Protestant  barrister,  named  Theobald 
Wolfe  Tone,  founded  in  Belfast  a  society  that  will  ever 


WOLFE  TONE  AND  THE   "  UNITED  IRISHMEN.  207 

be  linked  with  his  name — the  society  of  United  Irish- 
men. 

The  fame  of  Wolfe  Tone  and  the  society  he  formed  is 
world-wide.  Tone  was  only  28  years  of  age  at  the  time, 
and  his  portraits  have  familiarised  us  with  his  exceed- 
ingly handsome,  manly,  open,  engaging  countenance — 
the  reflex  of  courage,  frankness,  generosity  and  nobility 
of  soul. 

He  was  a  republican  at  heart,  and  a  celebration  of  the 
French  Revolution  in  July,  1791,  in  Belfast,  with  mili- 
tary pomp,  by  the  armed  volunteers  and  townspeople 
gave  him  the  idea  of  his  society,  or  at  any  rate  of  making 
use  of  the  occasion  for  the  advancement  of  its  scheme. 

He  quickly  gathered  into  the  society,  which  was  not 
at  first  a  secret  one — although  all  its  members  took  a 
solemn  oath  to  further  its  objects — such  other  since 
celebrated  men  of  the  time  as  Samuel  Neilson  (the 
proprietor  of  the  "  Northern  Star  "  newspaper),  Thomas 
Russell,  James  Napper  Tandy,  Archibald  Hamilton 
Rowan,  the  Hon.  Simon  Butler,  Dr.  Drennan,  Oliver 
Bond,  William  Sampson,  etc.,  etc.  All  these  gentlemen 
were  Protestants,  but  the  aim  of  the  Society  was  to 
wholly  eradicate  religious  differences  among  Irishmen 
and  unite  them  all  as  brothers  in  the  sacred  cause 
of  the  welfare  of  their  country.  Consequently,  a 
Catholic  was  readily  admitted  into  the  society  ;  his 
creed  was  made  no  bar  whatever  to  his  admission. 
On  the  contrary,  the  society  openly  advocated  the  cause 
of  Catholicism. 

The  membership,  as  it  deserved,  increased  by  leaps 
and  bounds  ;  Catholics  and  Protestants  of  the  middle 
and  lower  classes  joined  it  in  thousands,  and  the  Govern- 


208  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

ment  became  alarmed,  realising  how  formidable  a 
united  Irish  nation  would  be. 

First  denouncing  the  society  as  seditious  and  arrest- 
ing and  imprisoning  its  most  prominent  members,  the 
Executive  at  Dublin  Castle  then  grudgingly  passed  a 
Convention  Act,  allowing  Catholics  to  vote  for  members 
of  Parliament  and  to  occupy  certain  civil  and  military 
offices.  This  great  concession  was  made  to  try  and  wean 
the  Catholics  from  the  society,  to  whose  agitation  really 
they  owed  it.  Simon  Butler,  Oliver  Bond,  and  Hamilton 
Rowan  were  all  three  arrested,  and  fined  £500  and 
sentenced  to  terms  of  imprisonment  as  well,  for  presiding 
or  speaking  at  meetings  of  the  United  Irishmen. 

The  result  of  this  tyrannical  attempt  to  suppress  free 
speech  was  that  the  society  became  a  secret  revolu- 
tionary body,  "  pledged  to  obtain  separation  from 
England  and  a  republican  government." 

Wolfe  Tone,  to  avoid  arrest,  went  first  to  America, 
and  then  to  Paris,  where  he  saw  the  heads  of  the  French 
Republic  and  conspired  with  them  for  an  invasion  of 
Ireland,  or  rather  for  an  expedition  to  be  sent  to  help 
the  Irish  people  to  free  themselves  completely  from 
England. 

To  effect  this  became  Tone's  life-work,  and  he  met 
with  considerable  success.  In  1796  the  French  Directory 
fitted  out  an  armament  of  43  ships  of  war,  carrying 
13,975  troops,  officers  and  men,  and  arms,  artillery 
and  ammunition  for  45,000  men,  for  the  invasion  of 
Ireland,  putting  it  under  the  command  of  General 
Hoche.  Had  this  officer  lived  he  might  have  rivalled 
the  great  Napoleon,  for  he  was  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  tried  generals  in  the  French  army.  He  was 


Wolfe  Tone         Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald         Robert  Emmett 


WOLFE  TONE  AND  THE  "  UNITED  IRISHMEN."        20g 

known  as  "  the  Pacificator  of  I/a  Vendee,"  for  when 
that  particular  part  of  France  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  Bourbons  and  resisted  the  republicans  with  great 
success,  he  subdued  it  when  others  had  most  signally 
failed  by  combining  military  ability  with  humanity. 

If  the  above  formidable  force  had  landed  in  Ireland, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  for  good  or  ill,  it  would  have 
separated  Ireland  from  England.  But  "  man  proposes 
and  God  disposes  " ;  it  was  fated  otherwise. 

Wolfe  Tone,  elate  with  hope  and  triumph,  sailed  with 
the  expedition,  which  left  Brest  on  the  i6th  December, 
1796.  The  weather  was  unpropitious.  In  the  darkness 
first,  and  later  in  a  fog,  some  of  the  ships  became 
separated  from  the  others.  However,  35  made  the  coast 
of  Kerry  when  a  terrific  gale  arose  and  dispersed  them. 
Most  of  them  were  blown  out  to  sea,  but  16  got  safely 
into  Bantry  Bay.  General  Grouchy,  Napoleon's  Jonah* 
later,  as  he  was  now  apparently  of  the  expedition, 
hesitated  to  land,  although  he  had  6,500  men.  Wolfe 
Tone,  who  was  with  him,  begged  of  him  to  do  so.  The 
Fraternite,  the  flagship  of  the  fleet,  with  the  gallant 
Hoche  and  the  Admiral  on  board,  was  not  among  the 
16  ships  in  the  bay.  It  had  parted  from  the  rest 
of  the  fleet  the  first  night  of  the  voyage. 

Grouchy  was  at  last  induced  to  call  a  council  of  war, 
and  this,  to  Tone's  exceeding  joy,  decided  the  landing 
should  take  place  next  day.  In  the  night  the  wind 
freshened  to  a  violent  gale  again.  The  ships  dragged 
their  anchors,  and  were  every  one  of  them  at  last, 


*  Grouchy  failed  to  turn  up  in  time  to  help  Napoleon  at  Waterloo, 
and  lost  him  a  previous  fight  as  well  through  tardiness. 

P 


210  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

to  Tone's  despair,  driven  out  to  sea.  The  ships  had  to 
put  back  to  France,  where  they  arrived  all  so  much 
disabled  that  the  expedition  had  to  be  abandoned. 

There  were  only  4,000  troops  in  all  Munster  at  the 
time,  and  Grouchy's  6,500,  had  they  landed  overnight, 
instead  of  waiting  for  the  morrow,  must  have  been 
joined  by  the  peasantry  in  great  numbers  and  have 
"  marched  without  hindrance  to  Cork  ..... 
and  perhaps  even  to  the  capital." 

At  this  time  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald,  the  brother  of 
the  Duke  of  Leinster,  had  taken  the  oath  of  the  United 
Irishmen  and  was  elected  Commander-in-Chief  of  the 
military  revolutionary  organisation  that  was  being 
rapidly  formed.  He  had  served  in  the  English  army 
in  Canada  where  he  achieved  considerable  distinction. 
Handsome,  frank,  and  chivalrous,  and  endowed  with 
all  the  advantages  of  high  rank  and  noble  lineage, 
he  won  the  hearts  of  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact, 
and  his  lofty  patriotism,  added  to  these  qualities  or 
recommendations,  has  likewise  won  him  the  lasting 
affection  of  the  Irish  people,  amongst  whom  he  is  still 
familiarly  known  as  "  Lord  Edward." 

Associated  with  him  on  the  Executive  Directory  of 
the  Society  were  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  Arthur 
O'Connor  and  Dr.  William  James  McNevin.  There 
was  a  fifth  member  of  this  Directory,  but  who  he  was  is 
apparently  a  secret  that  will  never  be  solved.  It  is 
believed  though,  that  he  was  Lord  Cloncurry,  another 
patriotic  nobleman,  who  never  openly  acknowledged 
his  connection  with  the  society,  but  certainly  approved 
and  aided  it.  By  the  end  of  1797,  500,000  men  had 
been  secretly  enrolled  in  the  society,  and  of  these  about 


WOI.FE  TONE  AND  THE  "  UNITED  IRISHMEN."        211 

half  were  armed  with  pikes  or  muskets.  The  wearing 
of  the  hair  cut  or  "  cropped  "  close  became  the  fashion 
with  them,  and  so  they  were  called  by  the  soldiery 
"  croppies,"  which  name  became  synonymous  for  a 
rebel. 

Informed  of  this  by  their  numerous  secret  service 
agents  and  spies,  the  Government  became  panicstricken. 
The  expedition  under  Hoche  had  already  thoroughly 
alarmed  them,  and  they  now  determined,  by  the  foulest 
means  possible,  to  cause  a  premature  explosion  of  the 
insurrection  that  they  saw  coming  and  would  have  so 
much  cause  to  dread.  They  knew  that  the  inde- 
fatigable Wolfe  Tone  was  leaving  no  stone  unturned 
to  bring  about  another  armed  invasion  of  Ireland,  that 
he  was  eternally  worrying  Napoleon  and  Holland, 
then  called  the  Batavian  Republic,  to  fit  out  expedi- 
tions. Napoleon  tricked  Wolfe  Tone,  deceived  him, 
and — paid  the  penalty  at  Waterloo  ;  ay,  and  earlier, 
at  the  Battle  of  the  Nile. 

The  Batavian  Republic  was  as  good  as  its  promises  to 
Tone.  It  fitted  out  a  fleet  of  26  vessels  and  15,000  men 
for  the  invasion  of  Ireland,  thanks  to  him  and  General 
Hoche,  his  great  friend,  and  John  Edward  lyewins, 
another  agent  of  the  United  Irishmen.  This  fleet  sailed 
from  the  Texel  under  Admiral  de  Winter,  but  was 
attacked  off  Camperdown  by  an  English  fleet  of  equal 
or  slightly  superior  force  and  defeated.  "  Never  had 
the  English  seamen  harder  work  than  in  subduing 
the  almost  equal  gunnery  and  stubborn  courage  of  the 
gallant  Dutchmen  on  this  memorable  day."  (Sanderson.) 

Tone  had  despaired  of  the  Texel  fleet  ever  sailing 
and  had  rejoined  his  wife  and  children  in  Paris  ;  and  so 


212  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

it  sailed  without  him.  The  next  blow  that  Tone  suffered 
was  the  death  in  September  of  that  same  year  of  his 
warm-hearted  friend,  General  Hoche. 

It  needed  but  the  Batavian  expedition  to  complete 
the  panic  and  savage  design  of  the  English  ministers, 
and,  while  they  arrested  the  most  prominent  of  the 
patriot  leaders  everywhere,  they  now  let  loose  the 
soldiery,  and  particularly  the  yeomanry  and  militia, 
upon  the  unarmed  and  helpless  people.  Men,  women 
and  children  were  ill-used  and  tortured  in  a  way  that 
makes  the  blood  run  cold  to  read  of,  in  a  way  that  we 
care  not  to  pollute  our  pages  by  narrating. 

These  uniformed  ruffians  were  given  full  permission 
by  the  law,  called  "  martial  law,"  to  treat  the  peasantry 
and  people  everywhere  as  they  pleased,  so  as  to  try  and 
goad  them  into  rebellion.  Was  there  ever  a  more 
diabolical  scheme  ?  I,ord  Castlereagh,  one  of  the 
ministers,  openly  admitted  that  the  Government  had 
this  object.  We  shall  hear  more  of  Castlereagh  later, 
but  we  may  say  here  that  his  end  was — suicide. 

So  outrageously  did  the  soldiers  behave  to  even 
innocent  and  law-abiding  people  that  the  gallant  Sir 
Ralph  Abercrombie  threw  up  his  post  of  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  forces  in  Ireland  in  disgust,  while  the 
heroic  Sir  John  Moore,  another  Scotsman,  appalled  at 
the  treatment  of  the  people,  exclaimed :  "  Were  I 
an  Irishman,  I  should  be  a  rebel !  " 

The  Duke  of  Leinster  also  resigned  the  command 
of  the  Leinster  militia  by  way  of  protest,  and  all  decent 
men  drew  out  of  the  ranks  of  both  yeomanry  and 
militia,  so  that,  unfortunately,  the  very  lowest  of  the 
low — drunken,  inhuman  savages  beside  whom  the 


TONE  AND'THE  "  UNITED  IRISHMEN."      213 

French  revolutionists  were  as  lambs — got  the  upper 
hand  and  became  general  in  the  ranks  of  these  two 
forces. 

To  this  day,  the  yeomanry  and  militia  of  "  '98  " 
are  execrated  in  Ireland  more  than  the  regulars,  with 
the  sole  exception  of  two  regiments  of  Hessians  and 
another  of  Welsh  fencible  cavalry  known  as  the  Ancient 
Britons,  who  emulated  their  example.  The  Scotch 
regiments  everywhere  refused  to  have  anything  to  do 
with  such  brutality,  and  one  corps  of  Highlanders 
turned  their  backs  on  a  particularly  gross  scene  which 
may  not  be  mentioned  here. 

It  was  made  death,  too,  to  even  administer  the 
United  Irishmen's  oath ;  and  for  this  offence  one, 
William  Orr,  was  tried  and  hanged  at  Carrickfergus  on 
the  evidence  of  only  one  man,  a  soldier  named  Wheatly, 
in  defiance  of  all  the  notions  that  one  man's  word  is  as 
good  as  another's  in  a  court  of  law.  The  witness  after- 
wards "  declared  the  evidence  he  had  given  was  false." 
"  Remember  Orr,"  became,  like  "  Remember  Mullagh- 
mast,"  of  an  earlier  period,  the  watchword  of  the  United 
Irishmen. 

But  for  the  precautions  taken  by  the  British  Ministers 
in  everywhere  pouncing  on  the  leaders  of  the  revolu- 
tionary party,  it  is  more  than  likely  the  Government 
would  have  overshot  its  mark  in  forcing  on  the  rebellion. 
But,  thanks  to  their  host  of  informers  and  secret  service 
agents,  they  were  able  to  lay  their  hands  at  once,  as  we 
say,  on  pretty  well  all  the  popular  chiefs.  Oliver  Bond, 
Addis  Emmet,  Dr.  McNevin,  Arthur  O'Connor,  McCann, 
Jackson,  Sweetman  and  Father  O'Coigley,  were  all 
arrested,  but  Lord  Edward  evaded  capture  and  was 


214  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY, 

concealed  from  time  to  time  by  various  freinds  of  the 
cause. 

While  thus  in  hiding,  or,  as  it  was  called,  "  on  his 
keeping,"  he  appointed  the  23rd  of  May  for  a  general 
rising  ;  and,  to  fill  the  places  of  those  arrested,  the 
Brothers  Sheares,  John  and  Henry,  were  elected  mem- 
bers of  the  Executive  Council. 


THE    CAPTURE   OF   U)RD  EDWARD.  215 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  LORD  EDWARD. — "  NINETY-EIGHT  " 
— WEXFORD  RISES. 

A  reward  of  £1,000  was  offered  for  the  arrest  of  Lord 
Edward  ;  and  at  length,  in  May,  a  despicable  wretch 
named  Francis  Higgins,  a  rogue  and  trickster  who  had 
raised  himself  from  the  gutter  to  the  proprietorship 
of  the  "  Freeman's  Journal,"  and  was  known  contemp- 
tuously as  "  the  Sham  Squire,"  went  to  Major  Sirr  with 
information  gleaned  by  him  from  a  lawyer  named 
Francis  Magan. 

This  Magan  was  apparently  in  Higgins's  power  ;  he 
had  been  a  United  Irishman,  but  had  drawn  out  of  the 
Society  for  prudent  reasons.  He  was,  however,  trusted 
by  the  United  men  and  had  been  taken  into  the  secret 
of  Lord  Edward's  whereabouts.  It  was  long  kept  a 
Government  secret  who  the  traitor  was,  and  many 
innocent,  true-hearted  patriots  were  unjustly  suspected, 
such  as  Samuel  Neilson,  and  Murphy,  in  whose  house 
Lord  Edward  was  hiding. 

The  evening  of  the  i8th  May,  1798,  Major  Sirr,  the 
town  major,  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Murphy, 
a  feather  merchant,  153  Thomas  Street,  Dublin,  and 
silently  contrived  an  entrance.  He  had  with  him  Major 
Swan  and  Captain  Ryan,  as  well  as  a  number  of  soldiers. 


2l6  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Swan  and  Ryan  rushed  upstairs  into  the  bedroom 
where  Lord  Edward  was  reclining,  half  dressed,  upon  a 
bed,  about  to  drink  some  tea.  He  was  ill,  having 
contracted  sore  throat  and  general  debility. 

Lord  Edward  at  sight  of  the  intruders  sprang  off  the 
bed,  and,  weak  and  ill  as  he  was,  caught  up  a  dagger  he 
had  under  his  pillow.  Swan  pulled  out  a  pistol,  and 
Lord  Edward  struck  at  him,  wounding  him  in  the  hand 
and  breast.  Crying  out  that  he  was  "  murdered," 
Swan  fired  at  the  young  nobleman.  The  shot  missed. 
Captain  Ryan  now  intervened  with  a  sword  cane,  and 
Major  Sirr,  with  the  soldiers,  came  hurrying  upon  the 
scene. 

Ryan  grappled  with  Lord  Edward  and  the  two  fell 
to  the  floor,  Lord  Edward  severely  wounded  by  thrusts 
from  his  assailant's  weapon,  but  stabbing  the  latter 
repeatedly  with  his  dagger.  Lord  Edward  struggled 
to  his  feet,  and  Ryan  and  Swan,  both  on  the  floor, 
the  former  dying,  clung  to  his  legs.  Major  Sirr 
rushed  in  and  shot  at  Lord  Edward  with  a  pistol, 
lodging  several  slugs  in  his  right  shoulder,  whereupon, 
overcome  with  weakness  and  loss  of  blood,  "  the  gallant 
Geraldine  "  fell  back  upon  the  bed,  when  he  was  over- 
powered by  the  soldiers  and  bound  hand  and  foot. 

In  the  hall  downstairs  he  made  another  desperate  bid 
for  liberty,  but  was  borne  to  the  floor  by  a  dozen  soldiers 
and  wounded  in  the  neck  with  a  bayonet.  The  news 
spread  that  Lord  Edward  was  captured,  and  one 
Edward  Rattigan,  a  young  timber  merchant,  hastily 
collected  a  band  of  men  and  set  upon  the  captors.  But 
the  arrival  of  a  fresh  body  of  troops  enabled  these  to  get 
their  prisoner  safely  to  Newgate  Prison. 


THE   CAPTURE   OF   LORD   EDWARD.  217 

Lord  Edward  was  married  to  one  of  the  loveliest 
women  of  her  time,  the  gentle  Pamela,  a  grand-daughter 
of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Philippe  Egalite.  They  had 
met  casually  at  a  theatre  in  Paris.  The  play  was 
"  Lodoiska,"  and  Lord  Edward  was  introduced  by  a 
Mr.  Stone.  Lord  Edward  was  stricken  with  love  at  first 
sight  and  proposed  to  her  guardian  for  her  the  same 
night.  They  were  married  on  December  2ist,  1792, 
and  during  the  six  short  years  of  their  wedded  life  the 
young  couple  were  devotedly  attached  to  each  other. 

The  portraits  of  Lord  Edward  may  almost  be  mis- 
taken for  those  of  Robert  Burns,  the  Scottish  poet, 
owing  to  the  resemblance  in  the  pose  of  the  head,  the 
close-cut  curling  hair,  and  particularly  the  attire. 
Lord  Edward  had  a  strikingly  open,  frank,  handsome 
countenance,  in  which  enthusiasm  and  optimism  are 
the  prevailing  expressions.  The  eyebrows  were  well 
arched,  the  eyes,  large,  eloquent,  fearless,  the  forehead 
broad  and  high,  and  the  nose  a  military  aquiline  and 
Roman  combined,  the  mouth  and  chin  firm,  yet  gentle- 
looking  as  a  woman's. 

His  arrest,  when  all  had  hoped  he  would  prove  another 
Washington,  was  indeed  a  blow  to  the  United  Irishmen, 
and  practically  paralysed  their  action,  happening,  as  it 
did,  almost  on  the  eve  of  the  projected  rising. 

Samuel  Neilson  assembled  a  body  of  United  men  at 
night  to  storm  Newgate  and  rescue  Lord  Edward,  but 
he  was  captured  as  a  suspect  by  the  gaolers  while  recon- 
noitring, and  his  men  waited  in  vain  for  his  return. 

Lord  Edward  died  of  his  wounds  a  fortnight  later, 
on  the  4th  June,  1798,  while  the  rebellion  was  in  full 
swing,  and  he  lies  buried  in  St.  Werburgh's  Protestant 


2l8  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Church,  Dublin.  The  Brothers  Sheares  were  arrested 
on  May  2ist,  through  the  treachery  of  a  pretended  friend, 
Captain  John  Warneford  Armstrong,  of  the  Kildare 
militia,  whose  services  as  a  military  man  they  no  doubt 
hoped  would  be  useful  in  the  outbreak. 

General  Lake  had  taken  over  the  command  of  the 
royal  forces  and  brought  these  up  to  the  strength  of 
150,000  men.  The  United  Irishmen  had  not  intended 
to  rise  until  they  received  French  or  other  foreign  aid 
in  the  shape  of  "  the  kernel  or  nucleus  of  an  army,"  as 
Tone  wanted,  so  as  to  enable  the  insurgents  to  become 
disciplined  and  used  to  arms.  But  the  efforts  of  the 
Government  to  force  an  outbreak  were  successful.  The 
exasperated  people  could  endure  no  more  of  the  bru- 
talities practised  upon  them,  as  Lord  Edward  had  seen, 
and,  on  the  appointed  day,  the  23rd  of  May,  there  were 
risings  everywhere  over  the  country.  Mostly  they  were 
miserable  failures.  The  Dublin  men,  under  two  gentle- 
men named  Ledwich  and  Keogh,  were  cut  to  pieces  at 
Santry  by  Lord  Roden's  dragoons.  Their  purpose  had 
been  to  seize  Dublin  castle  and  the  artillery  park  at 
Chapelizod. 

At  Prosperous,  however,  the  insurgents  despatched 
the  sentry,  rushed  into  the  guardroom  and  piked  12 
men  and  shot  Captain  Swayne,  afterwards  firing  the 
barracks,  and  destroying  to  a  man  a  company  of  the  hated 
North  Cork  Militia  that  was  within  it.  Likewise,  at 
Dunboyne,  the  peasantry  ambushed  a  convoy  of  Scotch 
soldiers,  slew  them  to  a  man  also,  and  captured  the 
baggage  ;  while  at  Kilcullen  the  insurgents,  under  Dr. 
Esmonde,  defeated  a  troop  of  dragoons  with  a  loss 
of  22  men,  but  were  afterwards  attacked  by  a  large 


THE   CAPTURE   OF   LORD   EDWARD. 

force  of  troops  under  General  Dundas,  at  Kilcullen 
Bridge,  and  routed  with  a  loss  of  130  men.  A  detach- 
ment of  British  soldiers,  stationed  at  the  village  of 
Clane,  had  to  cut  its  way  to  Naas  with  considerable 
loss,  and  an  attack  on  Naas  was  only  repulsed  with 
the  loss  to  the  King's  troops  of  30  men  and  two  officers. 

On  the  hill  of  Tara,  "  the  old  seat  of  Milesian  royalty 
in  Meath,"  several  thousands  of  insurgents  had  mus- 
tered and  the  soldiers  feared  to  attack  them,  and  so 
resorted  to  a  ruse.  Several  barrels  of  whisky  were  sent 
along  the  road  and  the  foolish  peasants,  capturing 
these,  and  drinking  the  whisky,  were  then  attacked  by 
the  military  and  defeated,  but  only  after  a  hard  struggle. 

In  other  places,  through  lack  of  discipline  and  their 
own  headstrong  folly  for  the  most  part,  the  insurgents 
were  also  routed  and  with  heavy  loss,  as  at  Carlow,  where 
they  "  marched  in  a  very  noisy  and  disorderly  manner  " 
on  the  town  and  were  mown  down  by  a  deadly  fire, 
the  garrison  having  had  timely  warning  and  being  well 
intrenched  in  the  houses  lining  the  main  street.  On 
the  Curragh  of  Kildare,  Sir  James  Duff  butchered  300 
men  who  had  laid  down  their  arms.  Wherever  the 
soldiery  triumphed,  the  slaughter  of  the  unfortunate 
peasants  "  was  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  resistance 
offered."  No  mercy  was  shown  even  to  unarmed 
men. 

Seeing  his  church  of  Boolavogue  set  on  fire  by  the 
Orange  yeomanry  and  his  hapless  parishioners  fleeing 
from  their  blazing  homes  and  being  shot  down  merci- 
lessly, Father  John  Murphy,  a  Catholic  priest,  started 
the  revolt  in  Wexford,  kindled  a  flame  which  was  like 
to  have  consumed  British  supremacy  in  Ireland — com- 


220  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

menced  an  insurrection,  which,  had  it  been  better 
directed,  must  have  triumphed  and  swept  the  English 
out  of  the  country.  Previous  to  this  time  Father 
Murphy  had  counselled  the  people  to  deliver  up  any 
weapons  they  possessed.  Now,  seeing  that  inaction  or 
submission  was  no  security,  that  the  people's  exter- 
mination seemed  to  be  the  design  of  the  Government, 
he  gathered  some  men  together,  armed  with  scythes, 
tied  on  the  ends  of  poles,  and  pitchforks  for  the  most 
part,  and  fell  swiftly  and  suddenly  upon  the  Camolin 
yeomanry,  wholly  destroying  them  with  their  acting 
commander,  lieutenant  Bookey.  This  was  on  the  26th 
of  May,  1798. 

With  the  captured  horses  and  arms,  Father  John  and 
his  men  proceeded  to  the  residence  of  I^ord  Mountnorris, 
"  where  all  the  arms  were  stored  that  had  been  taken 
from  the  people  for  months  before.  These  were  taken 
possession  of,"  and  the  insurgents  then  bivouacked  on 
Oulart  Hill,  eight  miles  from  Wexford,  and  lit  bonfires 
to  rouse  the  country  round. 

Numbers  of  the  peasantry  flocked  into  the  camp,  and 
next  morning  Father  John  was  at  the  head  of  4,000  or 
5,000  men.  It  was  Whitsunday,  and  in  the  afternoon 
a  detachment  of  the  North  Cork  Militia,  a  most  detested 
corps  on  account  of  its  cruelty,  with  some  yeoman 
cavalry,  advanced  against  the  camp.  While  the  cavalry 
surrounded  the  hill  to  cut  off  the  insurgents'  escape, 
the  infantry  mounted  to  the  attack. 

The  insurgents  lay  in  a  ditch  or  depression,  well  under 
cover,  and,  suddenly  springing  up,  rushed  down  at  head- 
long charge,  overbearing  the  militia  in  the  very  shock 
of  impact.  In  a  few  minutes  they  had  killed  the  whole 


THE   CAPTURE  OF  LORD  EDWARD.  221 

detachment  except  L,ieut.-Colonel  Foote,  a  sergeant 
and  three  privates.  Major  Lombard  was  among  the 
slain  with  four  other  officers.  Colonel  Foote  escaped 
because  he  was  in  the  rear  and  on  horse-back,  but  he 
received  pike  wounds  in  the  breast  and  arm.  The 
yeoman  cavalry  fled  without  striking  a  blow,  at  the 
sight  of  the  fate  of  the  foot. 

Another  priest,  Father  Michael  Murphy,  of  Bally- 
cavan,  now  joined  the  insurgents,  and,  as  the  Rev. 
P.  M.  Furlong  wrote  in  his  poem,  entitled  "  The  Priests 
of  Ninety-Bight," 

"  They  drew  the  green  old  banner  forth  and  flung  it  to 

the  light  ; 
And  Wexford  heard   the  rallying  cry   and  gathered 

in  her  might, 

And  swore  around  uplifted  cross  until  the  latest  breath 
To  follow  where  her  soggarths  led — to  victory  or 
death." 

With  their  numbers  considerably  augmented,  the 
two  Fathers  Murphy  now  marched  to  Camolin,  where 
they  seized  80  stand  of  arms,  and  continuing  on  without 
meeting  any  opposition  through  Ferns,  gaining  recruits 
every  step  of  the  way,  attacked  Bnniscorthy  on  the 
28th  of  May.  I,ed  on  by  a  popular  gentleman  farmer 
named  John  Rossiter,  the  peasantry  eventually  swept 
the  regulars  and  North  Cork  Militia  and  yeomanry  out 
of  the  town  in  headlong  rout  after  more  than  three 
hours'  action.  The  day  was  very  hot.  Nearly  a  third 
of  the  garrison  were  slain,  including  a  captain  and 
two  lieutenants. 

A  number  of  "  farmers,  with  long  duck  guns,  practised 
marksmen  from  boyhood  in  shooting  wild  fowl,"  were 


222  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

included  in  the  peasant  army.  Father  John  proclaimed 
an  Irish  Republic  in  Enniscorthy,  which  town  now 
"  decked  itself  out  in  the  rebel  colours  of  green." 

Father  John  Murphy,  according  to  O'Connor  Morris, 
was  a  "  real  leader  ...  a  true  ruler  of  men,  almost 

a  born  general He  attacked  the  garrison 

in  the  place  (Enniscorthy)  with  real  military  skill, 
making  a  flanking  movement  with  vigour  and  effect." 
He  is  described  by  another  authority  as  a  man  of  forty- 
five  years  of  age,  light-complexioned,  slightly  bald, 
and  about  five  feet  nine  inches  in  height,  with  a  loud, 
ringing  voice. 


FURTHER  PEASANT  VICTORIES.  223 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

FURTHER  PEASANT  VICTORIES.  —  NEW  Ross.  —  ARKI,OW. 
—  VINEGAR 


All  Wexford  was  now  practically  in  arms  and  pouring 
into  the  insurgent  camp,  and  the  two  Fathers  Murphy, 
joined  by  Father  Clinch  of  Enniscorthy,  determined  to 
capture  the  county  town.  It  was  defended  by  a  garri- 
son of  1,200  men  which  had  been  reinforced  by  the 
fugitives  from  Enniscorthy.  General  Fawcett,  com- 
mander of  Duncannon  Fort,  sent  a  force  to  succour 
the  garrison.  On  the  30th  of  May,  the  insurgents 
surprised  this  force  at  Forth  or  Three  Rock  Mountain, 
three  miles  from  Wexford,  killing  a  hundred  of  the 
troops  and  capturing  two  howitzers,  some  ammunition 
and  prisoners.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Maxwell  with  a 
stronger  force,  coming  up,  attempted  to  retrieve  the 
defeat,  but  the  howitzers  were  turned  on  him  and  he 
retreated  in  haste  and  confusion,  losing  several  men. 

Under  the  nominal  command  of  General  Edward 
Roche,  lately  a  sergeant  of  yeomanry,  who  had  joined 
them,  the  insurgents  advanced  on  Wexford,  when  the 
garrison  fled  in  terror.  Its  flight  might  easily  have  been 
cut  off.  The  whole  strength  of  the  county  now,  thirty 
thousand  men,  the  insurgents  formed  three  camps  and 
three  separate  divisions,  and  decided  to  strike  respec- 


224  TH]e    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

tively  north,  west  and  south-west ;  a  great  mistake  for, 
had  they  at  once  hurled  their  full  force  northward,  they 
probably  would  have  triumphed  by  weight  of  numbers. 
Father  John  Murphy,  too,  unhappily  for  their  plans, 
retired  from  the  position  of  commander-in-chief,  and 
a  Protestant  barrister  of  landed  property  and  consider- 
able influence,  named  Beauchamp  Bagenal  Harvey> 
of  Bargy  Castle,  took  his  place. 

Harvey  had  no  military  knowledge,  and  his  insignifi- 
cant personality  was  also  against  him  as  a  leader  of 
an  undisciplined  peasant  army.  The  two  Fathers 
Murphy  had  already  shown  their  ability,  and  Father 
John  might  have  been  to  Ireland  what  "  the  illustrious 
Father  Morelos  "  was  to  Mexico,  her  Washington  or 
"  Liberator."  Matthew  Keogh,  a  Protestant  and  a 
captain  of  the  Sixth  Regiment,  who  joined  the  insur- 
gents, would  also  have  been  better  fitted  for  the  post 
of  commander-in-chief  on  account  of  his  military  know- 
ledge, instead  of  being  made  Governor  of  Wexford 
and  thus  doomed  to  useless  inactivity. 

On  the  ist  June,  the  northern  division,  advancing 
upon  Gorey,  was  repulsed  with  a  loss  of  nearly  100  men. 
The  troops,  encouraged  by  this  success,  then  marched 
to  attack  the  rebel  camp,  on  Carrigrua  Hill,  but  the 
insurgents  formed  an  ambuscade  and  trapped  the  main 
body  of  the  troops.  The  peasantry  lined  the  hedges 
and  thickets  on  either  side  of  the  road  at  Tubberneering 
or  Clough,  and,  first  pouring  in  a  deadly  fire,  fell  on 
with  the  pike.  Colonel  Walpole  who  was  in  command 
of  the  troops  was  shot  dead,  and  his  detachment,  horse 
and  foot,  was  cut  to  pieces  in  a  few  minutes  with  the 
loss  of  its  three  guns.  The  rear  of  the  division,  under 


FURTHER  PEASANT  VICTORIES  22$ 

Colonel  Cope,  fell  back  rapidly,  the  rebels  turning  the 
three  guns  on  it  and  punishing  it  severely.  Father 
Philip  Roche  was  the  leader  of  the  peasantry  here. 

Gorey  was  now  captured  by  the  insurgents,  who 
decided  to  march  on  to  Arklow. 

The  western  division  of  the  insurgents,  encamped  on 
Vinegar  Hill,  attacked  Newtownbarry,  under  two 
gentlemen  named  Doyle  and  Redmond,  and  Father 
Kearns,  on  the  2nd  June.  The  rebels  stormed  the 
town,  but  then  very  foolishly  spread  through  it,  and 
gave  themselves  up  to  drinking  and  jollification.  The 
troops  rallied,  returned,  and  drove  them  out  with  a  loss 
of  200  men.  However,  the  Royalists  had  to  abandon 
Newtownbarry  the  same  day,  and  the  peasant  army 
occupied  it. 

On  the  5th  June,  1798,  Bagenal  Harvey,  with  the 
south-western  division  of  this,  advanced  against  New 
Ross.  A  gentleman  named  Furlong,  sent  forward  to 
summon  the  town  to  surrender  under  a  flag  of  truce, 
was  shot  dead  by  the  English  soldiers,  whereupon,  in- 
censed at  this  violation  of  all  the  recognised  laws  of 
war,  the  insurgents,  without  waiting  for  orders,  swarmed 
down  upon  the  town  "  in  one  disorderly  body,  drove 
back  the  cavalry  and  infantry  by  the  fierceness  of  their 
charge,  and  captured  the  cannon."  The  troops  rallied 
in  the  heart  of  the  town,  but  the  insurgents  fought  a 
passage  into  it,  "  notwithstanding  that  many  guns  were 
planted  in  the  cross  lanes,  to  sweep  the  main  street." 
The  most  desperate  struggle  took  place  at  the  Three- 
Bullet  gate. 

After  some  fierce  fighting  the  troops  "  fled  over  the 
bridge  with  precipitation,  to  the  Kilkenny  side  of  the 

Q 


226  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Barrow  "  (Grant).  The  town  was  won,  but  with  "  fatal 
imprudence,"  the  peasants  acted  the  same  as  at  New- 
townbarry,  dispersed  through  the  town  and  began  to 
drink.  "  Soon  hundreds  were  imbecile  and  besotted 
with  liquor."  Major-General  Johnson  rallied  his  panic- 
stricken  troops,  brought  them  back  to  the  scene,  and, 
falling  on  the  drunken  rebels,  drove  them  out  in  his  turn, 
but  not  until  half  the  town  was  on  fire. 

The  rebels  returned  to  the  attack,  and,  by  dogged 
fighting,  won  the  centre  of  the  town  again  when — will 
it  be  believed  ? — they  repeated  their  folly,  and  once 
more  began  to  drink.  Again  they  were  beaten  out ; 
a  third  time  they  penetrated,  with  obstinate  bravery 
to  the  heart  of  the  town,  the  firing  continuing  until 
night  time  when  at  last,  wanting  officers  to  direct  them, 
they  were  finally  driven  out,  after  a  most  stubborn 
engagement  of  more  than  ten  hours. 

They  left,  one  authority  says,  2,600  killed  and  woun- 
ded behind  them,  and  many  of  the  wounded  were 
deliberately  burned  to  death  or  put  to  the  sword  in  cold 
blood  by  the  vengeful  troops.  Another  account  gives 
their  loss  only  at  1,000  men,  which  is  the  more  likely 
number,  for  the  rebels  actually  engaged  in  the  three 
assaults  "at  no  time  exceeded  5,000."  For  some 
unaccountable  reason  General  Bagenal  Harvey  remained 
outside  the  town,  resting  on  his  arms  with  the  main 
body  of  his  army,  and  left  all  the  fighting  to  a  gallant 
youth,  General  John  Kelly  of  Killann,  contenting  him- 
self with  sending  forward  only  a  small  reinforcement 
under  General  Thomas  Cloney.  Had  Kelly  and  Cloney 
only  been  supported,  New  Ross  would  have  remained 
in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents. 


FURTHER  PEASANT  VICTORIES.  227 

The  Rev.  James  B.  Dollard  has  commemorated 
Kelly  of  Killann  and  his  dashing  charge  at  New  Ross 
in  verse  : 

"  The  hush  before  the  battle, 

Wraps  famed  Three-Bullet  Gate, 
And  there,  with  matches  burning, 

The  English  gunners  wait. 
Grim  wall  and  gaping  cannon 

Defy  the  might  of  man — 
Not  so  !   with  charging  Wexford, 

And  Kelly  of  Killann  ! 

Like  lightnings  round  Slieve  Cailtha 

The  flashing  of  his  pikes  ! 
His  charge  like  bolt  from  heaven 

Black  Brandon's  brow  that  strikes  ! 
The  troops  on  earth  ne'er  mustered, 

His  bristling  front  could  scan 
And  face  with  hearts  unshaken, 

Fierce  Kelly  of  Killann  ! 

The  gallant  Kelly  fell  severely  wounded  in  the  third 
assault,  and  on  this  his  followers  gave  way,  Cloney 
covering  the  retreat  admirably.  The  heavy  loss  of  the 
insurgents  was  entirely  due  to  their  drunkenness, 
those  who  were  sober  suffering  very  little  in  the 
pursuit. 

Naturally  the  peasantry  were  greatly  dissatisfied 
after  this  disaster  with  Harvey's  leadership,  and  he 
was  called  on  to  resign,  when  Father  Philip  Roche,  a 
perfect  giant  of  a  man,  who  was  the  victor  at  Tubber- 
neering  and  possessed  unbounded  influence,  was  elected 
in  his  place. 

The  garrison  of  New  Ross  had  consisted  of  about 
i, 600  men,  some  of  these  being  regular  troops,  supported 


228  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY 

by  a  battery  of  field  guns.  The  assailants  were  never, 
as  we  have  said,  more  than  5,000.  "  The  fight  within 
the  pent-in  spaces  was  most  desperate  ;  the  artillery  in 
vain  swept  hundreds  down,  the  best  horsemen  of  England 
recoiled,  beaten,  before  the  serried  forest  of  pikes  or  fell 
under  the  deadly  hail  of  concealed  sharpshooters." 

Sir  Richard  Musgrave  says  "  that  such  was  their 
enthusiasm  (that  of  the  peasantry)  that,  though  whole 
ranks  of  men  were  seen  to  fall,  they  were  succeeded  by 
others,  who  seemed  to  court  the  fate  of  their  com- 
panions, by  rushing  on  our  troops  with  renovated 
ardour."  Of  the  troops,  500  officers  and  men  fell, 
including  Lord  Mountjoy,  Colonel  of  the  Dublin  Militia, 
who  was  shot  in  the  first  onset. 

"  My  curse  upon  all  drinking — 'twas  that  that  brought 

us  down ; 

It  lost  us  Ross  and  Newtownbarry,  and  many  another 
town." 

Maddened  by  the  troops'  burning  of  a  hospital  con 
taining  a  number  of  wounded  insurgents  at  New  Ross 
and  the  butchery  of  all  peasants  taken  prisoners,  with 
or  without  arms,  some  of  the  Wexfordmen  set  fire 
to  a  barn  at  Scullabogue  and  burnt  about  eighty 
loyalists. 

The  Northern  division  next  attacked  Arklow  on  the 
9th  of  June.  Esmond  Kyan,  a  young  gentleman  of 
influence  and  undeniable  worth,  skilfully  directed  the 
three  guns  the  insurgents  had,  disabling  one  of  the 
enemy's  pieces.  But  later,  leading  a  charge  of  pikemen, 
he  was  shot  in  the  shoulder. 

The  two  Fathers  Murphy,  who  were  in  command, 


FURTHER  PEASANT  VICTORIES.  22Q 

managed  their  men  with  great  ability  "  and  several 
times  they  had  the  advantage."  The  troops  were 
intrenched  "  behind  strong  barricades  and  well-suppor- 
ted by  artillery  "  (Grant). 

Father  Michael  Murphy  also  personally  led  a  column 
of  pikemen  repeatedly  against  the  barricades,  unsup- 
ported by  the  gunmen,  who,  to  the  number  of  2,000, 
having  exhausted  their  ammunition  early  in  the  fight, 
marched  off  the  field.  "  The  pikemen  captured  one 
of  the  royal  cannon  and  despatched  the  gunners,"  but 
a  cannon-shot  struck  and  killed  Father  Michael,  and  on 
that  his  men  lost  heart  and  gave  way.  Nevertheless,  it 
was  a  drawn  battle.  General  Needham,  the  king's 
general,  was  only  prevented  from  retreating  by  his 
second-in-command,  Skerritt,  and  did  not  dare  to  leave 
his  intrenchments  and  barricades.  The  peasantry 
needed  only  to  have  vigorously  followed  up  their  partial 
success,  to  have  cleared  the  road  to  Dublin. 

Had  the  gunmen  and  pikemen  been  intermingled  in 
the  proportions,  say,  of  three  or  five  pikemen  to  one 
gunman,  a  solid  mass  of  6,000  to  10,000  men  could  have 
been  hurled  in  a  charge  against  the  barricades  and 
would  probably  have  carried  them.  As  it  was,  the 
whole  brunt  of  the  fighting  fell  on  the  pikemen,  who 
were  exposed,  as  they  charged  over  the  open  ground, 
to  a  ceaseless  fire  of  the  musketry  and  grapeshot,  without 
being  able  to  reply  of  course,  and  only  covered  by 
Kyan's  three  guns. 

Father  John  Murphy  at  this  fight  was  at  the  disad- 
vantage of  having  only  "  the  latest  levies "  of  the 
rebel  army — men  who  "  were,  for  the  most  part,  miser- 
ably armed  The  bodies  of  sharpshooters  seem  to  have 


230  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

been  at  New  Ross  "  (O'Connor  Morris).  Father  Michael 
Murphy  was  within  thirty  yards  of  the  enemy's  line 
leading  on  his  brigade  to  the  charge,  when  struck  by 
the  cannon-shot.  He  was  on  horseback  and  bore  a 
green  flag  "  bearing  the  words  '  Death  or  Liberty  '  on  a 
a  white  cross." 

Father  John's  column,  "  advancing  by  the  sea 
road,  captured  all  the  enemy's  advanced  positions 
and  drove  the  troops  in  confusion  across  the  river 
into  the  town."  Under  Father  John  was  a  gallant  youth 
of  nineteen,  Miles  Byrne,  who  afterwards  wrote  a  graphic 
account  of  this  and  other  fights  in  Wexford.  "  Though 
the  contest  lasted  from  four  o'clock  until  late  in  the 
evening,  and  was  very  determined  on  both  sides,  the 
losses  were  not  great."  Gordon,  a  loyalist,  though 
fair-minded  historian,  only  puts  the  rebel  loss  at  300, 
and  this  would  further  seem  to  show  that  the  peasantry 
were  not  defeated  and  only  desisted  from  attack,  in 
grief  at  the  loss  of  so  respected  a  leader  as  Father  Michael 
Murphy.  Miles  Byrne  indeed  claimed  Arklow  as  a 
victory,  and  bitterly  lamented  that  it  should  have  been 
abandoned. 

As  usual,  "  the  insurgents  had  shown  conspicuous 
courage,  and  Castlereagh  declared  he  could  never  have 
believed  that  untrained  peasants  would  have  fought  so 
well." 

As  Thomas  Davis,  the  Protestant  national  poet, 
wrote,  "  Great  hearts  !  how  faithful  ye  were.  How  ye 
bristled  up  when  the  foe  came  on  ;  how  ye  set  your 
teeth  to  die  as  his  shells  and  round  shot  fell  steadily  ; 
and  with  how  firm  a  cheer  ye  dashed  at  him,  if  he 
gave  you  any  chance  at  all  of  a  grapple  !  From  the 


FURTHER  PEASANT  VICTORIES.  23! 

wild  burst  with  which  ye  triumphed  at  Oulart  Hill, 
down  to  the  faint  gasp  wherewith  the  last  of  your  last 
column  died  in  the  corn  fields  of  Meath,  there  is  nothing 
to  shame  your  valour,  your  faith,  or  your  patriotism. 
You  wanted  arms  and  you  wanted  leaders.  Had  you 
had  them  you  would  have  guarded  a  green  flag  in  Dublin 
Castle,  a  week  after  you  beat  Walpole.  Isolated, 
unorganised,  unofficered,  half  armed,  girt  by  a  swarm 
of  foes,  you  ceased  to  fight,  but  you  neither  betrayed 
nor  repented.  Your  sons  need  not  fear  to  speak  of 
Ninety-eight." 

After  the  "  drawn  battle  "  of  Arklow,  it  was  decided 
by  the  Wexford  leaders  to  do  what  they  should  have 
done  at  first,  muster  all  their  remaining  forces  on 
Vinegar  Hill,  at  Enniscorthy,  and  hazard  all  in  one 
big  fight.  But  it  was  too  late  now  to  win  by  weight  of 
numbers.  General  Lake  was  closing  around  them  with 
20,000  men,  equal  numbers  with  their  own  poor,  half- 
armed,  wholly  undisciplined  force.  On  the  2ist  of 
June,  he  advanced  against  their  position  on  Vinegar 
Hill  with  13,000  men,  cavalry  and  infantry,  besides  a 
strong  force  of  artillery.  His  strength  would  have 
been  greater,  but,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  General 
Needham's  column  failed  to  turn  up  in  its  appointed 
place  at  the  rear  of  the  rebel  camp. 

Under  Lake,  who  was  known  as  "  the  People's 
Butcher,"  were  Generals  Dundas,  Duff,  Loftus,  Johnson, 
and  Eustace,  in  command  of  as  many  divisions.  The 
Wexfordmen  had  13  guns  of  small,  almost  toylike 
calibre,  mostly  ship's  guns  brought  in  by  the  patriotic 
captains  of  ships  in  Wexford  harbour.  The  supply  of 
ammunition  was  scanty.  Nevertheless,  from  behind 


232  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

some  rude  earthen  intrenchments  they  had  thrown  up, 
the  half-armed  peasants  made  a  gallant  stand.  "  Their 
leaders  encouraged  them  by  words,  their  women  by 
cries.  They  gave  the  enemy  back  defiant  shouts,  as 
they  faced  with  despairing  valour  the  storm  of  shot 
and  shell  that  burst  on  the  four  sides  of  their  position." 
(I/uby).  General  Lake's  horse  was  shot  under  him. 

For  an  hour  and  a  half  the  peasantry  stood  their 
ground,  and  only  broke  and  fled  when  the  enemy  had 
mounted  the  hilltop.  There  fell  Father  Clinch,  resisting 
to  the  last.  He  was  shot  while  riding  a  large  white 
horse  and  urging  on  his  men  with  a  huge  sabre.  Edward 
Hay,  a  rebel  general,  was  captured,  with  others,  and 
between  500  and  600  were  killed. 

By  "  Needham's  gap,"  the  routed  peasants  were 
enabled  to  retreat  to  Wexford  through  a  country  where 
they  could  not  be  pursued  by  cavalry  or  cannon,  "  so 
that  they  suffered  no  punishment  worth  speaking  of  in 
the  pursuit."  The  pikemen  could  always  give  a  good 
account  of  themselves  against  their  foes  at  close  quar- 
ters. 

General  Sir  John  Moore  attacked  the  fugitives 
from  Vinegar  Hill,  or,  rather,  was  attacked  by  them, 
near  Lacken  Hill  or  Goff's  Bridge.  They  thought  to 
retrieve  the  day  by  seizing  on  New  Ross  "  in  the  absence 
of  the  troops."  Fighting  "  very  steadily "  for  four 
hours,  they  "  retired  only  when  their  ammunition  was 
exhausted." 

Seeing  that  all  was  lost  now,  they  broke  up  into 
various  small  bodies,  and  tried  to  cut  their  respective 
ways  through  the  ring  of  foes  that  girt  them  in.  One 
under  Father  Kearns  and  Anthony  Perry  was  defeated 


FURTHER  PEASANT  VICTORIES.  233 

and  dispersed ;  but  Father  John  Murphy,  who  first 
raised  the  standard  of  revolt  in  Wexford,  led  his 
band  through  Carlow,  defeated  some  militia  at  Gores- 
bridge,  and,  entering  Kilkenny,  captured  Castlecomer. 
Cornered  at  Kilcomney  Hill,  however,  and  forced  to  fight 
at  disadvantage,  they  were  defeated  ;  and  Father  John, 
surrendering,  was  cruelly  scourged  and  executed,  his 
body  being  publicly  burned  and  his  head  spiked  on  the 
market  house  at  Tullow  by  General  Duff. 

Father  Philip  Roche  was  also  taken,  brutally  mal- 
treated, and  hanged ;  but  another  small  force,  under 
Mr.  Edward  Fitzgerald  of  New  Park,  who  must  not  be 
confused  with  Lord  Edward,  and  the  brothers  Byrne 
of  Ballymanus,  broke  through,  like  Father  John,  into 
Wicklow,  and  joined  the  Wicklow  insurgents  under 
"  General  "  Joseph  Holt  and  the  even  more  renowned 
Michael  Dwyer.  With  them  was  young  Miles  Byrne, 
who  was  a  son  of  Mr.  Garret  Byrne  of  Ballymanus. 
He  afterwards  became  an  officer  in  the  French  army 
under  Napoleon. 

They  attacked  Hacketstown  on  June  25th,  but  were 
repulsed  and  pursued  by  a  strong  force.  On  the  29th, 
at  Ballyellis,  outside  Carnew,  they  turned  at  bay  and 
formed  an  ambuscade.  The  Ancient  Britons,  a  hated 
Welsh  fencible  cavalry  regiment,  were  in  hot  pursuit, 
and,  coming  on  round  a  turn  in  the  road  at  full  gallop, 
found  the  way  stopped  by  a  barricade  of  cars  thrown 
across  the  road.  A  mass  of  pikemen  sallied  out  from 
behind  a  wall  and  closed  up  the  road  behind,  attacking 
them  with  headlong  fury.  Gunmen  lined  the  wall  and 
poured  in  a  flank  fire.  The  soldiers  could  not  escape,  for 
the  other  side  of  the  road  was  skirted  by  a  wide  ditch 


234  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

and  swampy  ground,  in  which  their  horses  stuck.  Every 
man  of  them  was  wiped  out. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  however,  this  body  of  Wexford- 
men  suffered  defeat  at  Whiteheaps,  and  the  formidable 
Wexford  rising  was  over. 


HUMBERT'S  INVASION.  235 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
HUMBERT'S   INVASION. — THE   FATE   OF   TONE. — Hoi/r 

AND    DWYER. 

Not  altogether  unaided  did  the  Wexfordmen  struggle. 
On  the  8th  of  June,  the  Downshire  men  surprised  and 
defeated  the  royalists  with  a  loss  of  60  men,  but  on  the 
I2th  were  defeated  by  a  large  force  of  troops  at  Ballina- 
hinch.  Henry  Munro  was  the  leader  of  the  insurgents 
here.  And  on  the  7th  June  a  gallant  Presbyterian 
gentleman,  named  Henry  Joy  McCracken,  with  9,000 
men,  attacked  Antrim  to\vn  and  drove  out  the  garrison, 
killing  Lord  O'Neill  among  others.  A  force  sent  by 
General  Nugent  to  retake  the  town  was  at  first  un- 
successful, but  at  length,  by  bringing  up  artillery, 
compelled  McCracken  and  his  men  to  retreat.  A 
few  other  slight  actions  took  place,  but  here,  as  in  the 
rest  of  Ireland,  the  outbreak  was  quickly  crushed. 

Lieutenant  William  Aylmer  of  the  Kildare  militia, 
nephew  of  Sir  Fenton  Aylmer,  commanded  the  pike- 
men  in  an  attempt  at  Ovidstown  Hill.  But  instead  of 
charging  in  a  solid  mass,  as  he  called  on  them  to  do, 
his  men  wheeled  behind  a  thin  line  of  bushes  and  were 
simply  mown  down  by  the  fire  of  the  troops.  He, 
however,  contrived  to  escape  and  joined  the  Wexford- 
men, who  elected  him  General,  and  he  and  General 


236  THE    ROMANCE    OF   IRISH    HISTORY. 

Fitzgerald  of  New  Park,  the  victor  of  Ballyellis,  after 
the  defeat  at  Whiteheaps,  kept  a  considerable  band  on 
foot  in  the  mountains  on  the  border  of  Wicklow  and 
Kildare.  The  pair  eventually  negotiated  with  the 
humane  General  Dundas,  to  whom  they  surrendered,  on 
the  I2th  of  July,  "  on  condition  that  all  the  other  leaders 
who  had  adventured  with  them  should  be  at  liberty 
to  retire  whither  they  pleased  out  of  the  British  do- 
minions." 

This  treaty  was  afterwards  shamefully  broken  in  the 
case  of  the  brave  Esmond  Kyan,  who,  on  surrendering, 
was  court-martialled  and  hanged  ;  but  Fitzgerald  and 
Aylmer's  lives  were  spared,  and  they  were  expatriated. 
It  was  urged  at  the  heroic  Kyan's  trial  that,  as  he  had 
been  the  means  of  saving  some  loyalist  prisoners  from 
being  massacred  by  the  rabble  in  Wexford — not  the 
fighting  men — he  evidently  possessed  considerable  in- 
fluence over  the  rebels,  and  that  he  should  have  used 
this  influence  to  dissuade  them  from  insurrection, 
instead  of  encouraging  them  in  it.  So  his  humanity 
cost  him  dear  The  same  argument  was  used  against 
Bagenal  Harvey ;  and  consequently  another  rebel 
chief,  with  true  Irish  wit,  exclaimed,  "  Thank  heaven 
no  one  can  accuse  me  of  having  saved  any  Protestant 
prisoners." 

When  all  was  over  some  weeks,  three  French  frigates 
entered  Killala  Bay  and  landed  some  1,260  French 
officers  and  men  with  three  pieces  of  cannon,  under  a 
General  Humbert.  This  was  on  August  22nd,  1798. 
Had  they  arrived  before  Vinegar  Hill,  the  war  might 
have  been  different. 

Humbert  seized  Killala,  and  thousands  of  the  peas- 


HUMBERT'S  INVASION.  237 

antry  promptly  joined  him  Leaving  200  men  to  hold 
the  town,  he  marched  on  Castlebar,  where  General 
Lake  had  gathered  an  army  of  6,000  men  to  oppose 
him.  "  He  was  expected  to  arrive  by  one  road  ;  he 
chose  another,"  through  Windy  Gap,  and  the  pass 
of  Barnaghee,  and,  encountering  the  English  army, 
routed  it  by  one  charge,  before  a  blow  could  be 
struck. 

Such  was  the  panic  of  the  royal  troops  and  the 
headlong  way  in  which  cavalry  and  foot  alike  fled,  that 
the  rout  is  still  known  as  "  the  Races  of  Castlebar." 
The  terrified  royal  troops  did  not  halt  until  they  reached 
Tuam.  The  English  lost  14  guns,  5  colours  and  600  men 
in  killed,  wounded  and  prisoners 

Lord  Cornwallis  joined  Lake,  and  the  two  once  more 
tried  to  come  to  conclusions  wirh  Humbert.  He 
repulsed  them  at  Kilmaine,  Ballinrobe,  Tubbercurry, 
Collooney,  Ballinamore  and  Drumshambo  in  succession, 
as  he  marched  steadily  on  through  Mayo,  Sligo  and 
Leitrim,  en  route  for  the  capital. 

At  Ballinamuck  in  the  county  Longford,  half  way  to 
Dublin,  he  was  at  last,  on  the  8th  September,  sur- 
rounded and  turned  to  bay  by  a  force  ten  times  superior 
to  his  own.  The  royal  troops  were  30,000  strong.  He 
fought  for  half  an  hour,  captured  Lord  Roden  and  his 
dragoons  in  the  early  part  of  the  fight,  and  then,  over- 
whelmed by  numbers,  surrendered.  "  A  great  and 
useless  slaughter,"  says  Grant,  "  was  made  among 
the  fugitives " — Humbert's  Irish  allies,  to  whom  of 
course  no  mercy  was  shown. 

Matthew  Tone,  known  as  "  the  silent,"  Wolfe  Tone's 
brother,  was  among  the  prisoners,  as  also  was  another 


238  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Franco-Irish  officer  named  Teeling      They  were  both 
hanged. 

But  the  English  Government  had  not  yet  heard  the 
end  of  the  Rising.  Wolfe  Tone  sailed  on  September 
20th,  with  a  fresh  French  expedition  under  General 
Hardi  It  consisted  of  nine  vessels,  having  on  board 
3,000  men.  Head  winds  separated  the  fleet,  and, 
on  October  loth,  only  four  vessels  entered  Lough 
Swilly.  An  English  fleet  of  nine  ships,  under  Admiral 
Warren,  appeared  in  view,  and  a  desperate  battle 
ensued.  Tone,  who  wore  the  uniform  of  a  French 
General,  to  which  rank  he  had  been  advanced,  wras  on 
the  flagship,  the  Hoche.  She  was  attacked  by  no  less 
than  four  British  men-of-war,  but  she  resisted  for  six 
hours,  Tone  righting  as  bravely  as  any  and  refusing 
to  seek  safety  in  a  small  boat  when  advised  to  do  so. 
When  she  was  only  like  a  log  on  the  water  the  Hoche 
struck  her  flag. 

Tone  had  commanded  one  of  the  batteries  and 
seemed  "  like  a  man  seeking  to  rush  upon  death." 
He  did  not  wish  to  survive  defeat  and  failure  yet 
again. 

Taken  to  I,etterkenny,  at  a  dinner  given  to  the 
French  officers  Tone  was  recognised  by  Sir  George 
Hill — an  old  schoolfellow  in  Trinity  College  and  an 
Orange  magistrate — who  had  him  arrested.  He  was 
tried  by  court-martial,  and,  of  course,  found  guilty. 
He  claimed  a  soldier's  death  as  an  officer  in  the  French 
army,  that  he  be  shot,  not  hanged  like  a  dog.  But  his 
foes  refused  to  grant  him  such  a  death  ;  and  so  he  is 
supposed  to  have  opened  a  vein  in  his  neck  with  a 
knife.  After  lingering  for  some  days  in  pain,  he  died 


HUMBERT'S   INVASION.  239 

on  the  igth  of  November,  1798.  Many  believed  at  the 
time  that  he  was  privately  murdered  in  his  prison. 

His  body  lies  in  the  churchyard  of  Bodenstown, 
Kildare.  "  Thus  passed  away,"  says  Dr.  Madden, 
"  one  of  the  master-spirits  of  his  time."  Thus  perished 
one  of  the  most  formidable  enemies  England  had  ever 
had  to  deal  with  in  Ireland.  "  England,"  wrote 
Daniel  Crilly,  "  was  rid  of  the  most  powerful  and  subtle 
opponent  to  her  sway  in  Ireland  since  the  days  of  Hugh 
O'Neill."  "  His  fearless  and  unselfish  devotion  to  his 
country's  cause,  for  which  he  gave  up  all  worldly 
pleasure,  comfort  and  ambition,  has  made  his  name 
enshrined  for  all  time  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen." 
(Ferguson). 

"  General "  Joseph  Holt,  who  was  a  Protestant 
farmer  of  substance  before  the  outbreak,  kept  the  flag 
of  insurrection  flying  among  the  Wicklow  Mountains 
until  the  8th  November.  His  corps  of  "  Mountain 
Cavalry,"  which  included  in  its  ranks  Hackett,  as 
colonel,  and  the  bold  Michael  Dwyer  as  captain,  repea- 
tedly routed  troops  sent  against  it,  chased  these  back  to 
Dublin.  The  Government  offered  £300  reward  for 
Holt's  capture,  and  increased  it  later.  He  surrendered 
on  honourable  terms,  through  I^ord  Powerscourt,  and 
was  exiled.  Captain  Michael  Dwyer  refused  to  come 
in  and  participate  in  the  pardon,  and,  with  a  few  daring 
spirits,  easily  swollen  at  any  time  to  thirty  or  more  men, 
continued  the  hopeless  struggle  for  years.  We  shall 
hear  of  him  again  in  1803,  when  he  was  still  holding 
out. 

One  of  his  most  famous  exploits  was  that  on  the  I9th 
December,  1798.  He  was  surprised  in  a  cottage  at 


240  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Bernamuck  in  the  Glen  of  Imale,  among  the  Wicklow 
Mountains,  his  snug  retreat,  having  with  him  only 
three  companions.  The  soldiers — Highlanders — had  sur- 
rounded the  cabin  and  called  on  him  to  surrender. 
He  refused.  It  was  the  dead  of  night  and  the  ground 
was  deep  in  snow.  Each  of  the  four  outlaws,  for  such 
they  had  been  made,  defended  a  side  of  the  hut  and 
kept  the  assailants  at  bay,  killing  several,  until  these 
succeeded  in  setting  the  roof  on  fire. 

By  that  time  two  of  the  outlaws,  Samuel  McAlister 
and  John  Savage,  were  desperately  wounded. 

"  Captain,"  said  McAlister  then,  addressing  Dwyer, 
"  Savage  and  I  are  done  for.  We'll  throw  open  the  door 
and  rush  out.  The  soldiers  will  empty  their  pieces  into 
us.  Then  you  and  Costello  should  be  able  to  burst 
through." 

Dwyer  would  not  have  it  at  first,  but  McAlister  and 
Savage  insisted,  and  they  had  their  way.  It  was  a 
deed  of  the  sublimest  heroism.  Embracing  each  other, 
they  flung  open  the  door  and 

"  Stood  before  the  foemen,  revealed  amid  the  flame. 
From  out  their  levelled  pieces  the  wished-for  volley  came." 

Riddled  with  shot,  the  heroic  McAlister  and  the 
equally  heroic  Savage  sank  across  one  another.  Then 
out  like  furies,  with  clubbed  muskets,  burst  Dwyer 
and  Pat  Costello.  Dwyer  got  through,  but  his  sur- 
viving companion  was  captured.  Running  like  a  deer, 
the  daring  outlaw  chief  disappeared  into  the  snow  and 
darkness,  and  easily  eluded  pursuit  among  his  native 
fastnesses. 

The    Rebellion    of    '98    cost   the   insurgents    50,000 


HUMBERT'S  INVASION.  241 

persons,    many    of    whom    were    non-combatants    and 
brutally  slaughtered,  the  royalists  lost  20,000. 

James  Napper  Tandy,  whose  name  is  familiar  to  all 
Irishmen  from  his  mention  in  the  popular  rebel  ballad 
of  '98,  "  The  Wearing  of  the  Green,"  had  also  gone  to 
France,  like  Tone,  with  a  view  to  urging  the  Directory 
to  send  aid  to  the  insurgents.  He  received  provisional 
rank  as  a  general  in  the  French  army,  and  got  together 
"  a  small  body  of  Irish  refugees,  intending  to  form  the 
nucleus  of  an  army  in  Ireland.  They  sailed  in  the 
Anacreon  and  landed  on  the  coast  of  Donegal,  but 
embarked  again  and  sailed  northward,"  the  expedition 
eventually  coming  to  nothing.  Tandy  was  arrested 
at  Hamburg,  but  released.  Arrested  again,  he  was 
sentenced  to  death,  but  ultimately  pardoned  on  condi- 
tion that  he  left  the  country. 

The  pikes  used  by  the  insurgents,  their  principal, 
one  might  almost  say,  only  weapon,  were  fifteen  to 
eighteen  feet  long,  the  staffs  being  made  of  ash,  and 
the  spear-like  heads  having  a  small  keen-bitted  axe- 
head  on  one  side  with  a  sharpened  hook  on  the  other, 
as  a  rule,  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  the  reins  of  cavalry. 
Sometimes  the  axe-head  was  omitted,  but  the  hook 
was  always  attached.  Strange  to  say,  the  Wexfordmen 
do  not  seem  to  have  attempted  to  organise  a  cavalry 
corps — a  decided  mistake  on  their  part,  one  would 
think. 

"  The  uniform  adopted  by  the  rebel  chiefs  was  green, 
faced  with  white  or  yellow,  and  laced  with  gold.  They 
wore  white  vests,  buckskin  breeches,  half  boots 
('  Hessians ')  and  cocked  hats  adorned  with  cock 
neck-feathers  and  green  cockades."  (Grant.) 


242  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

A  Grand  National  Committee  of  seven  was  appointed 
by  them  to  form  a  general  board  of  direction,  and 
Bagenal  Harvey  was  elected  president ;  then  there 
was  a  senate  or  Council  of  Elders,  and  a  General  Council 
or  Board  of  Deputies  consisting  of  500  members,  so 
that  during  its  short-lived  insurrection  Wexford  was 
practically  a  republic. 

The  generals  of  the  United  Army  were  all  duly  elected, 
and  consisted  of : — Generalissimo,  Father  Philip  Roche ; 
Generals  Father  John  and  Michael  Murphy,  Father 
Kearns  and  Father  Clinch;  Generals  Bagenal  Harvey, 
Edward  Fitzgerald,  Edward  Roche,  Esmond  Kyan, 
Anthony  Perry  of  Inch,  Garret  Byrne  of  Ballymanus, 
Thomas  Cloney,  Edward  Hay,  Patrick  Sutton  (Coun- 
cillor Sutton  of  Wexford),  John  Rossiter,  John  Kelly 
of  Killann,  William  Aylmer,  Matthew  Keogh,  O'Hea, 
Doyle  and  Redmond.  Nicholas  Gray,  who  afterwards 
took  part  in  a  later  rebellion,  was  secretary  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  and  signed  all  official  papers. 

Of  the  gentlemen  of  property  and  superior  education 
who  formed  members  of  the  rebel  senate  or  Council 
of  Elders,  the  most  prominent  were  John  Henry  Col- 
clough  of  Ballyteague  and  his  brother,  Cornelius  Grogan, 
Dr.  M'Cullom,  Mr.  Brennan,  who  had  held  the  post  of 
High  Sheriff  of  the  County,  and  Mr.  Lysaght. 

In  all  there  were  16  to  20  priests  among  the  insurgents, 
but  in  no  sense  was  it  a  Catholic  rebellion.  Many  of  the 
most  trusted  leaders  of  the  peasantry,  as  we  have  shown, 
were  Protestants,  such  as  Bagenal  Harvey,  one  of  the 
two  Colcloughs,  Grogan,  Perry,  Keogh,  McCracken, 
Munro,  and  Holt,  to  say  nothing  of  Wolfe  Tone,  Lord 
Edward,  etc. 


HUMBERT'S  INVASION.  243 

:  They  rose  in  dark  and  evil  days 

To  right  their  native  land  ; 
They  kindled  here  a  living  blaze 

That  nothing  shall  withstand. 
Alas,  that  might  can  vanquish  right  I 

They  fell  and  passed  away, 
But  true  men,  like  you  men, 

Are  plenty  here  to  day. 

Then,  here's  their  memory — may  it  be 

For  us  a  guiding  light, 
To  cheer  our  strife  for  liberty, 

And  teach  us  to  unite. 
Through  good  and  ill  be  Ireland's  still, 

Though  sad  as  their's  your  fate, 
And  true  men,  be  you  men, 

Like  those  of  'Ninety-Eight. 


244  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 
How  THE  "  UNION  WAS  PASSED." 

Ireland  was  crushed  once  more  and  lay  prone  beneath 
the  heel  of  England  yet  again.  Pitt,  the  British  Prime 
Minister,  no  longer  had  cause  to  dread  the  moral  force 
of  the  Volunteers  or  the  physical  force  of  an  exasperated 
peasantry.  The  power  of  both  had  been  broken  by 
the  awful  insurrection  of  '98,  so  cruelly  provoked  and 
as  cruelly  put  down.  He  determined  to  end  the  Parlia- 
ment he  had  so  unwillingly  conceded  to  Ireland,  the 
legislative  freedom  that  "  Grattan's  Parliament  "  had 
won,  and  he  now  advanced  his  scheme  for  the  Legis- 
lative Union  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

Resistance  was  out  of  the  question  by  Ireland,  reduced 
to  such  utter  helplessness  ;  and  the  great  mass  of  the 
people,  the  Catholics,  were  deluded  by  Lord  Cornwallis, 
the  Viceroy  or  Lord  Lieutenant,  into  thinking  that 
"  Catholic  Emancipation  "  would  be  granted  on  the  Act 
of  Union  passing  into  law. 

On  January  22nd  of  the  year,  1799,  following  that 
dreadful  one  of  so  much  blood  and  heroism,  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  Union  was  made  by  Cornwallis,  but  the 
proposal  was  defeated  by  the  Irish  House  of  Commons 
by  a  majority  of  five,  in  the  debate  on  the  Address, 
although  the  Irish  House  of  Lords,  as  might  be  expected, 
approved  it. 


HOW    THE    "  UNION    WAS    PASSED."  245 

The  country  was  jubilant,  but,  during  the  recess  that 
followed,  Lords  Cornwallis,  Clare  and  Castlereagh 
left  no  stone  unturned,  no  vile  method  unused,  to  secure 
a  majority  for  the  Union  in  the  next  Session.  Needless 
to  say,  the  English  Parliament  had  approved  the 
proposal.  All  officials  who  had  voted  against  the 
measure  were  dismissed,  and  peerages,  pensions  and 
places  were  liberally  bestowed  to  win  votes.  Owners 
of  "  pocket  "  or  "  rotten  boroughs  "  were  bribed  with 
big  sums  of  money  to  put  in  men  who  would  vote  as 
was  wanted,  while  all  manner  of  false  rumours  of  threat- 
ening French  invasions  and  revolutionary  plots  were 
disseminated  amongst  the  landed  gentry,  to  scare  them 
into  supporting  the  only  means  of  "  safety  for  society 
and  security  for  property,  viz.,  a  Union  with  Great 
Britain."  All  these  means  were  openly  employed  by 
the  Government  to  effect  its  end.  There  was  no  need 
for  concealment  or  caution — the  country  was  crushed 
and  helpless.  The  secret  service  money  was  also 
largely  used  for  the  desired  end,  in  bribes  and  corrup- 
tion of  all  sorts. 

Some  of  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  Bishops  sup- 
ported the  Government  measure  ;  but  the  great  mass 
of  the  people  of  all  denominations  was  steadfastly 
opposed  to  the  destruction  of  their  independent  nation- 
ality. The  Catholics  did  not  want  emancipation  at  the 
expense  of  that. 

Parliament  reassembled  in  1800,  and  Lord  Castlereagh, 
who  was  Chief  Secretary,  brought  forward  the  Union 
Bill.  Sir  Lawrence  Parsons,  in  a  powerful  oration, 
proposed  an  amendment  "  that  it  was  desirable  to 
maintain  the  independence  of  the  Irish  Parliament 


246  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

as  settled  in  1782."  Ponsonby,  Bushe  and  Plunket 
also  spoke  on  the  patriot  side,  as  also  a  Mr.  Egan. 
The  last-mentioned  was  addressing  the  House  when  a 
whisper  ran  through  it. 

"  Grattan  !     Grattan  is  here  !  " 

The  great  Patriot  leader  had  been  an  invalid  and  out 
of  the  country,  trying  to  recruit  his  health,  broken  by  his 
heroic  devotion  to  his  country  in  Parliament. 

A  tremendous  shout  arose  without  on  College  Green. 
It  was  taken  up  in  the  lobbies.  The  doors  of  the 
Chamber  of  the  Commons  was  thrown  open  and  "  the 
inspired  countenance  of  Henry  Grattan  "  was  revealed. 
Emaciated,  but  with  preternaturally  kindling  eye,  he 
tottered  feebly  forward,  supported  by  Ponsonby  and 
Moore. 

The  whole  House  rose  respectfully,  cheer  following 
upon  cheer.  Ix>rd  Castlereagh  bowed  formally.  Grattan 
had  been  returned  for  the  close  borough  of  Wicklow, 
which  belonged  to  a  Mr.  Tighe.  Egan  willingly  gave 
way  to  the  great  orator,  who,  unable  to  stand,  asked 
permission  to  speak  sitting  ;  and  then  he  was  heard 
"  to  thunder  again  those  iron  words  that  thrill  'd  like 
the  clash  of  spears."  He  spoke  for  two  hours  "  with 
unprecedented  fire  and  splendour." 

But  all  in  vain  his  eloquence,  his  forcible  argument 
that  "  it  was  not  in  the  power  of  the  Parliament  to  put 
an  end  to  its  own  existence."  In  vain  his  glowing 
words,  his  efforts  to  awaken  some  spark  of  patriot  fire 
in  the  corrupt  hearts  of  his  hearers.  The  division  that 
followed,  after  eighteen  hours'  debate,  resulted  in  a 
majority  of  42  for  the  Government. 

Pitt,  the  English  Premier,  had  wanted  a  majority 


HOW    THE    "  UNION    WAS    PASSED."  247 

of  not  less  than  50.  Desperately,  "inch  by  inch," 
Grattan  and  the  Patriots  fought  the  measure  in  its 
progress  through  the  House — the  Speaker,  Mr.  Foster, 
being  one  of  its  most  vehement  opponents  from  first 
to  last. 

When  in  the  final  division  in  the  Commons,  153 
voted  for  it  and  88  against,  Foster's  "  lips  seemed  to 
decline  their  office.  At  length,  with  an  eye  averted 
from  the  object  which  he  hated,  he  proclaimed,  with  a 
subdued  voice,  '  the  ayes  have  it.'  For  an  instant  he 
stood  statue-like,  then  indignantly  and  in  disgust, 
flung  the  bill  upon  the  table  and  sank  into  his  chair  with 
an  exhausted  spirit."  (Barrington.) 

The  Bill  received  the  royal  assent  on  August  2nd, 
1800,  and  the  two  Parliaments  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland  were  declared  to  be  henceforth  one.  Ireland 
was  no  longer  a  nation  ;  she  had  sold  her  birthright, 
or  rather  it  had  been  sold  over  her  head  by  her  corrupt 
Ascendancy  representatives  ! 

Batteries  of  artillery  were  kept  in  readiness  to  sweep 
the  streets  around  the  old  Parliament  House  on  the  day 
the  Bill  passed,  in  case  of  a  popular  outbreak. 

The  Act  of  Union  came  into  operation  on  the  ist 
January,  1801.  As  to  its  chief  articles,  they  will  be 
found  in  any  history,  no  matter  how  small,  and  so  need 
not  be  recapitulated  here.  A  sordid  business  from  first 
to  last,  the  selling  of  a  nation's  birthright,  the  Act's 
only  claim  to  inclusion  here  in  a  romance  of  Irish  history 
is  its  patriotic  resistance  by  such  as  Grattan  and  Foster. 

Grattan  became  a  member  of  the  United,  or  English, 
House  of  Commons  in  1805,  and  a  persistent  advocate 
there  of  Catholic  rights.  He  lived  till  1820. 


248  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Dalton,  in  his  "  History  of  Ireland," 
thus  compares  Grattan  and  Flood :  "  Both  were  men 
of  the  highest  ability  ....  Flood  was  cold,  measured, 
calculating;  Grattan  impetuous  and  energetic  .  .  . 
In  voice  and  manner  and  gesture  Flood  had  the  advan- 
tage, for  Grattan's  voice  was  thin  and  his  gestures 
ungraceful,  but  amid  the  force  and  fire  of  his  delivery, 
the  wealth  and  splendour  of  his  imagery,  the  beauty 
of  his  diction,  these  defects  were  forgotten ;  and  if 
Flood  was  a  strong  river  advancing  with  measured 
flow,  Grattan  was  a  mountain  torrent  .  .  .  .  •-.; 
carrying  in  its  rushing  course  everything  in  its  path. 
In  the  moral  qualities  all  the  advantages  were  on 
Grattan's  side.  Flood  was  jealous  and  vain,  Grattan 
was  neither ;  Flood  deserted  the  popular  cause  for 
office,  Grattan  was  incorruptible ;  he  loved  Ireland 
with  an  undivided  heart,  and  to  serve  her  was  his  highest 
ambition.  The  ascendancy  of  his  talents  and  character 
was  quickly  recognised,  and  he  soon  occupied  the  place 
which  Flood  had  filled." 

Grattan  had  a  handsome  and  singularly  sweet, 
winning  countenance,  though  rather  elongated,  unlike 
the  broad,  heavy,  massive  face  we  usually  associate 
with  the  orator  and  as  exemplified  by  O'Connell,  Glad- 
stone, John  Bright,  and  others.  Flood's  nose  spoiled 
his  face,  curving  inward  and  then  outward,  to  a  sharp 
aggressive  point. 

The  pair  are  generally  represented  in  Volunteer 
uniform  ;  and,  in  the  well-known  picture  of  the  Irish 
House  of  Commons  before  the  Union,  are  shown  standing 
together  in  the  foreground,  on  the  right  hand  side, 
Flood  whispering  something  of  evident  moment,  with 


HOW    THE    "  UNION    WAS    PASSED."  249 

forefinger  raised  to  emphasise  what  he  is  saying,  in  the 
ear  of  Grattan,  who  is  listening  attentively  and  as 
evidently  weighing  his  words. 

In  the  same  famous  picture,  John  Philpot  Curran, 
the  eloquent  and  celebrated  advocate  of  the  United 
Irishmen,  a  trim-built,  rugged-faced  little  Irishman, 
is  addressing  the  House,  and  Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald, 
the  patriotic  Geraldine  who  figured  so  prominently 
in  the  rebellion  of  1798,  is  easily  discernible  on  the 
left  hand  side  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  he  preferred  his 
own  head  of  hair  to  the  powdered  wigs  of  those  about 
him. 

It  was  an  age  of  duelling,  and  Grattan,  Deader  of 
the  House  of  Commons  as  he  was,  "  was  ever  ready  to 
sustain  with  his  pistols  the  force  of  his  arguments." 
He  fought  a  duel  with  Lord  Earlsfort,  and  another  with 
Isaac  Corry,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  Corry 
had  made  "  a  coarse  and  virulent  attack  on  him,  calling 
him  an  '  unimpeached  traitor.'  "  Grattan  thereupon 
"  overwhelmed  Corry  in  a  torrent  of  invective  scarcely 
ever  equalled  in  any  Parliament."  It  was  during  the 
debate  on  the  Union.  Corry  particularly  resented 
being  called  "a  dancing  master  "  by  Grattan,  and  he 
challenged  Grattan.  Grattan  "  went  from  the  House 
to  fight  him  and  shot  him  through  the  arm,"  and  "  in 
consequence  became  more  powerful  and  more  popular 
than  ever." 

So  universal  was  duelling  and  so  preposterous  the 
ideas  entertained  of  it,  that  "  no  gentleman  was  con- 
sidered to  have  taken  his  proper  station  in  life  till  he 
had  '  smelt  powder,'  as  it  was  called  ;  no  barrister  could 
go  on  circuit  till  he  had  obtained  a  reputation  in  this 


250  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

way and  many  men  of  the  bar,  practising 

half  a  century  ago,  owed  their  eminence  not  to  powers 
of  eloquence  or  to  legal  ability,  but  to  a  daring  spirit 
and  the  number  of  duels  they  had  fought." 

The  same  author  quoted  above  relates  that  when 
Dr.  Hodgkinson,  Vice-Provost  of  Trinity  College,  then 
a  very  old  man,  was  consulted  as  to  the  best  course 
of  study  to  pursue  for  the  bar,  whether  the  student 
should  begin  with  Fearne  or  Chitty,  he  replied  : 

"  My  young  friend,  practise  four  hours  a  day  at 
Rigby's  pistol  gallery  and  it  will  advance  you  to  the 
woolsack  faster  than  all  the  Fearnes  and  Chittys  in  the 
library." 

Sir  Jonah  Barrington  gives  a  catalogue  of  barristers 
who  killed  their  man  and  of  judges  who  actually  fought 
their  way  to  the  bench. 

Naturally  this  state  of  things  bred  a  very  lawless 
state  of  society,  and  in  Grattan's  day  the  idle  young 
gentlemen  about  town,  known  as  "  Bucks,"  associated 
themselves  into  various  clubs,  where  they  comported 
themselves  in  the  most  outrageous  manner.  Many 
of  them,  calling  themselves  "  Pinkindindies,"  went 
about  with  a  small  portion  cut  off  the  scabbards  of  their 
swords — everyone  with  any  pretension  to  gentility 
then  wore  a  sword — so  that  they  could  prick  or  "  pink," 
with  the  naked  points,  anyone  with  whom  they 
quarrelled. 

These  Bucks  were  for  the  most  part  only  cowardly 
bullies,  and  merely  behaved  thus  as  a  rule  when  they 
had  the  courage  of  numbers.  "  Tiger  "  Roche,  perhaps 
the  most  famous  of  these  swaggering  roysterers,  was, 
however,  a  queer  compound  of  courage  and  cowardice, 


HOW    THE    "  UNION    WAS    PASSED."  251 

displaying  either  quality  at  different  times.  Another 
noted  bully  was  "  Fighting  Fitzgerald."  "  Tiger " 
Roche  once,  singlehanded,  went  to  the  aid  of  an  old 
gentleman,  his  son  and  daughter  who  were  assailed 
by  a  party  of  "  Pinkindindies,"  and  set  about  the 
cowardly  gang  so  vigorously  that  he  wounded  some 
and  put  the  rest  to  ignominious  flight. 

"  How  did  they  pass  the  Union  ? 

By  perjury  and  fraud  ; 
By  slaves  who  sold  their  land  for  gold 
As  Judas  sold  his  God.     .     .     . 

How  thrive  we  by  the  Union  ? 

Look  round  your  native  land  ; 
In  ruined  trade  and  wealth  decayed 

See  slavery's  surest  brand." 


252  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
ROBERT  EMMET. 

Ireland  was  generally  supposed  to  be  still  crushed, 
but  in  1803,  a  fresh  insurrection  startled  everybody 
and  showed  that,  phoenix-like,  patriotism  could  arise 
from  out  the  ashes  of  its  dead  self. 

Robert  Emmet,  a  younger  brother  of  Thomas  Addis 
Emmet,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  United  Irishmen, 
still  cherished  hopes  of  a  successful  rebellion  against 
England.  He  was  only  25,  and  full  of  ardour  and 
enthusiasm  and  a  deep,  abiding  love  of  his  country. 
To-day  he  stands  out  high  above  all  others  as  Ireland's 
dearest  patriot  son,  the  idolised  patriot-martyr  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  people.  Wolfe  Tone,  I^ord  Edward, 
Owen  Roe  O'Neill,  Sarsfield — all  these,  bright  and 
illustrious  names  on  Ireland's  roll  of  fame  as  they  are, 
give  second  place  in  the  heart  of  the  Irish  people  to 
Robert  Emmet. 

He  was  a  Protestant  and  the  son  of  a  distinguished 
Dublin  physician,  and  he  had  been  expelled  from 
Trinity  College  because  of  his  revolutionary  ideas. 
His  portraits  show  a  small,  compact  head,  with  a  thin, 
thoughtful,  yet  sternly  resolute  face,  indicating  a  highly 
cultured  and  refined  nature ;  close-cut  black  hair, 
falling  in  slightly  curling,  carelessly  parted  manner 


ROBERT  EMMET.  253 

over  a  broad,  high,  rounding  brow  ;  the  nose,  a  decidedly 
aggressive  Roman,  that  of  the  born  soldier  ;  the  lips 
tight-shut,  yet  full  of  eloquence ;  the  eyes  large,  brilliant, 
defiant ;  the  chin  firm  and  well-set.  In  stature  he 
was  about  five  feet  eight,  and  though  slight  in  person, 
he  was  most  active  and  capable  of  enduring  great 
fatigue. 

It  is  believed  that  in  '98,  being  then  only  20,  he  acted 
as  confidential  agent  for  the  United  Irishmen  abroad 
He  interviewed  Napoleon  and  Talleyrand  in  Paris,  and, 
unlike  Wolfe  Tone,  "  was  impressed  with  the  future 
Emperor's  insincerity  "  as  regarded  Ireland  and  its 
invasion.  Seeing  England  embroiled  in  the  great  war 
with  France,  he  now,  in  1802,  determined  to  attempt 
another  rebellion.  He  conferred  with  Lord  Cloncurry, 
the  patriotic  nobleman  who,  as  related,  is  supposed  to 
have  been  the  mysterious  and  unknown  fifth  member 
of  the  United  Irish  Directory.  Cloncurry  does  not 
appear,  however,  to  have  engaged  in  this  wild  scheme, 
for  such  it  was  undoubtedly. 

Along  with  Miles  Byrne,  James  Hope,  Thomas 
Russell,  who  had  been  a  lieutenant  in  the  64th  Regi- 
ment of  Foot  and  a  prominent  United  Irishman,  Nicholas 
Gray  (Bagenal  Harvey's  secretary)  and  others  including 
Michael  Dwyer,  the  famous  Wicklow  insurgent  chief, 
still  in  rebellion  at  that  period,  he  formed  a  plan  for  the 
sudden  seizure  of  Dublin  castle  and  the  ministers  of 
the  Crown  there,  and  thus  inaugurating  a  general 
insurrection.  Michael  Dwyer,  who  visited  Emmet  in 
disguise  in  Dublin,  along  with  his  two  lieutenants, 
Martin  Burke  and  Hugh  Byrne,  was  opposed  to  the 
scheme  as  impracticable,  but  was  nevertheless  quite 


254  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

willing  to  take  part  in  it,  and  help  it  forward  in  every 
way. 

Emmet  formed  depots  of  arms  in  various  streets  in 
Dublin,  the  principal  one  being  in  Marshalsea  Lane, 
off  Thomas  Street.  Here  arms  and  ammunition  were 
manufactured,  forty  men  being  constantly  employed. 
Uniforms  were  also  being  made  by  tailors  in  the  secret 
at  these  depots.  Over  10,000  pikes  and  many  muskets, 
pistols  and  blunderbusses  were  afterwards  found  in 
them.  Emmet  himself  invented  a  hand  grenade,  or 
infernal  machine,  to  explode  in  the  face  of  advancing 
troops.  July  23rd,  1803,  was  fixed  for  the  rising, 
but,  on  the  i8th  July,  an  explosion  at  one  of  the  depots 
in  Patrick  Street  brought  the  authorities  down  on  the 
conspirators.  Some  arms  were  found,  but  the  majority 
were  secreted  in  time. 

On  the  day  fixed  for  the  rising,  treachery  and  pusil- 
lanimity ruined  everything.  Michael  Dwyer  and  the 
Wicklow  men  waited  in  vain  for  the  messenger  that  was 
to  be  sent  them.  The  Kildare  men  were  turned  back  by 
a  traitor,  who  told  them  the  rising  had  been  postponed. 
Miles  Byrne  and  300  Wexfordmen  also  received  no  word 
and  so  remained  inactive,  expecting  it  every  minute. 

Emmet  himself  was  deceived.  To  the  last  he  thought 
he  had  large  bodies  of  men  at  his  disposal.  With  a 
miserable  following  of  80  men,  he  sallied  out  at  eight  in 
the  evening,  dressed  in  his  uniform  of  green  and  gold, 
from  the  depot  in  Marshalsea  Lane.  Some  of  the  men 
were  drunk,  and  nearly  all  insubordinate.  A  man 
rushed  up  crying  that  the  soldiers  were  coming. 

Emmet  pushed  on  with  those  immediately  about 
him,  but  the  stragglers  began  to  pillage  shops,  attacked 


ROBERT  EMMET.  255 

a  Mr.  Leech  of  the  custom-house,  and  piked  him.  Then 
the  coach  of  Lord  Kilwarden,  the  Chief  Justice,  a  most 
humane  man,  came  up,  and  the  mad ,  unruly  mob  stopped 
the  coach,  and  one  Shannon  ran  his  pike  through  the 
unfortunate  judge.  His  nephew  who  was  with  him 
was  also  killed,  but  his  daughter  was  left  unmolested. 
Emmet  himself  came  rushing  back,  filled  with  horror 
and  disgust  at  such  bloodshed,  and  saw  her  in  safety 
into  a  neighbouring  house.  It  is  supposed  that  Kil- 
warden was  mistaken  by  the  insurgents  for  Lord 
Carleton,  who  had  sentenced  the  Brothers  Sheares. 
In  any  case  the  deed  was  a  diabolical  and  wanton 
crime. 

Emmet  had  now  lost  all  control  over  the  savage  mob. 
A  detachment  of  troops  appeared  at  the  corner  of 
Cut-purse  Row,  and  fired  on  it,  when  it  scattered  at  once. 
Small  parties  carried  on  a  few  skirmishes,  attacking  the 
guardhouse  on  the  Coombe,  and  killing  Colonel  Brown 
and  two  members  of  the  Liberty  Rangers.  But  they, 
too,  were  dispersed,  and  Robert  Emmet  was  a  ruined, 
outlawed,  conscience-stricken  and  broken-hearted  man. 

He  could  easily  have  got  out  of  the  country  though, 
for  he  succeeded  in  reaching  Dwyer's  secret  retreat 
in  the  Wicklow  mountains,  but  he  loved  Sarah  Curran, 
the  youngest  daughter  of  the  illustrious  advocate, 
John  Philpot  Curran.  Curran  did  not  approve  of  the 
match,  and  the  lovers  had  plighted  their  troth  in  secret. 
Emmet  returned  to  his  old  lodgings  at  Harold's  Cross, 
a  suicidal  act,  in  order  to  have  a  last  interview  with  his 
betrothed,  as  she  passed  on  her  way  to  her  father's 
country  house,  the  Priory,  near  Dundrum. 

There  he  was  arrested  on  August  25th  by  Major  Sirr 


256  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

the  well-known  town  major,  and  he  was  subsequently 
identified  by  Dr.  Elrington,  a  Provost  of  Trinity 
College. 

On  September  iQth,  he  was  tried  for  high  treason. 
He  refused  to  make  any  defence.  Curran,  incensed 
at  his  daughter's  name  being  mentioned  in  connection 
with  him,  had  declined  to  act  as  his  counsel.  The  trial 
lasted  only  one  day  before  I/ord  Norbury,  and  at 
midnight  a  verdict  of  guilty  was  returned  against  him. 
Before  sentence  was  passed  upon  him  he  made  the 
famous  and  eloquent  speech  in  which  he  requested 
"  the  charity  of  the  world's  silence,  and  that  his  tomb 
remain  uninscribed  and  his  memory  in  oblivion  until 
other  times  and  other  men  could  do  justice  to  his 
character." 

"  When  my  country  takes  her  place  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth,  then  and  not  till  then,  let  my 
epitaph  be  written,"  he  said  in  conclusion. 

At  noon  the  following  day,  September  20th,  1803, 
he  was  led  to  execution,  the  gibbet  being  erected  in 
Thomas  Street,  at  the  head  of  Bridgefoot  Street,  and 
directly  opposite  the  Protestant  Church  of  St.  Catherine. 

"  A  carriage,  containing  Miss  Curran  and  a  friend, 
was  drawn  up  on  the  roadside,  near  Kilmainham,  and, 
evidently  by  preconcert,  as  the  vehicle  containing  Emmet 
passed  on  its  way  to  the  place  of  execution,  the  unhappy 
pair  exchanged  their  last  greeting  on  earth."  Sarah 
Curran  was  closely  veiled,  but  the  eyes  of  love  were 
sharp.  Robert  Emmet  put  his  head  out  of  the  window 
of  the  carriage  in  which  he  was  and  gazed  intently, 
waving  his  hand  several  times  till  out  of  sight.  "  At 
the  moment  Emmet  passed  the  lady  removed  her  veil, 


Robert  Emmett  on  his  way  to  execution 


ROBERT  EMMET.  257 

stood  up  in  the  carriage,  waved  her  handkerchief, 
and  sank  back  on  the  seat,"  apparently  swooning. 

It  was  believed  up  to  the  last  that  Thomas  Russell, 
who  was  in  town  for  that  purpose,  would  attempt  a 
rescue  with  the  co-operation  of  Michael  Dwyer  and  his 
mountain  band.  But  nothing  of  the  kind  took  place. 
It  would  have  been  useless,  for  the  Government  had 
taken  every  precaution  to  guard  against  any  such 
attempt,  strong  bodies  of  cavalry  and  infantry  guarding 
every  approach  and  surrounding  the  scaffold.  With  a 
serene  countenance  and  air,  Bmmet  suffered  death, 
and  his  head  was  then  severed  from  his  body  and  held 
up  to  view  as  that  of  a  traitor. 

Thomas  Moore  has  "  embalmed  for  all  time  the  sad 
story  of  Emmet  and  the  ill-starred  lady  of  his  love, 
who  ere  many  years  passed  over  followed  him  to  the 
grave "  (I^uby).  Moore  was  his  fellow-student  and 
companion,  and  wrote  round  him  the  two  famous 
songs,  "  Oh  !  breathe  not  his  name,"  and  "  She  is 
far  from  the  land  where  her  young  hero  sleeps."  This 
last  refers  to  Sarah  Curran,  who,  though  she  was  even- 
tually prevailed  on  to  marry  another — a  worthy,  noble 
gentleman  who  loved  her  tenderly — never  forgot  him, 
and  died  really  of  a  broken  heart,  soon  after,  on  the 
shores  of  the  Adriatic. 

What  pathos  there  must  have  been,  what  anguish 
in  that  last  memorable  interview  of  theirs,  their  meeting 
as  he  was  on  his  way  to  execution  !  What  a  scene  for 
a  drama  ! 

"  When  he  who  adores  thee,"  another  of  Moore's 
melodies,  is  supposed  to  be  Emmet's  dying  address  to 
his  country  ;  and  the  poet  relates  how  once,  when  he 

s 


258  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

was  playing  the  air  of  "  Let  Erin  remember  the  days  of 
old,"  in  the  company  of  Emmet,  the  young  patriot- 
martyr  exclaimed  : 

"  Oh,  that  I  were  marching  at  the  head  of  a  thousand 
men  to  that  tune  !  " 

"  On  the  whitewashed  walls  of  every  Irish  peasant's 
home,  beside  the  pictures  of  the  Pope  and  of  O'Connell, 
there  is  another  that  is  familiar  to  us  all,"  writes  Dr. 
D' Alton,  "It  is  that  of  Emmet  in  his  white  trousers 
and  vest,  his  Hessian  boots,  his  coat  of  green  and  gold, 
his  military  cloak,  his  cocked  hat  in  his  hand,  his  face 
spiritualised  by  enthusiasm,  his  eyes  filled  with  the  light 
that  has  never  shone  upon  land  or  sea.  Wherever  the 
Irish  race  has  gone  it  is  the  same,  and  abroad  or  at  home 
the  name  of  Emmet  is  one  with  which  to  conjure." 
Another  familiar  picture  of  him  is  with  his  arms  folded, 
facing  his  judges  at  his  trial,  dressed  in  civilian  attire. 

Sarah  Curran  was  not  exactly  handsome,  nor  was  she 
tall.  She  was  very  slight  with  dark  complexion,  and 
eyes  large  and  black.  "  Her  look  was  the  mildest, 
sweetest  and  softest  ever  seen."  The  gentleman  she 
eventually  married  was  Major  Sturgeon,  whom  she  met 
while  on  a  visit  to  a  Quaker  family  in  Cork  named 
Penrose. 

Thomas  Russell,  Emmet's  friend,  had  been  captured 
before  the  execution,  and  he  in  his  turn  suffered  death. 
He  lies  buried  in  the  Protestant  churchyard  of  Down- 
patrick.  Miles  Byrne  escaped  to  France  and  rose  to 
eminence  in  the  French  army,  becoming  a  chef  de 
bataillon  under  Napoleon. 

Michael  Dwyer  held  out  in  the  Wicklow  mountains 
some  time  longer,  when,  influenced  by  the  arguments 


ROBERT  EMMET.  259 

of  Mr.  Hume  of  Humewood,  he  surrendered  on  honour- 
able conditions,  and  was  expatriated  to  Australia. 
He  died  in  1814  in  Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  and 
was  buried  there. 

"  General  "  Holt,  his  old  brother-in-arms,  had  also 
been  transported  to  New  South  Wales,  but  received  a 
pardon  in  1809  and  returned  to  Ireland,  dying  in  1826 
at  Kingstown. 


PART    IX. 

MORAL  OR  PHYSICAL  FORCE. 

Chisel  the  likeness  of  the  Chief 

Not  in  gaiety,  nor  grief ; 

Change  not  by  your  art  to  stone 

Ireland's  laugh  or  Ireland's  moan     .     . 

But  would  you  by  your  art  unroll 

His  own  and  Ireland's  secret  soul 

And  give  to  others  time  to  scan 

The  greatest  greatness  of  the  man  ? 

Fierce  defiance  let  him  be 

Hurling  at  our  enemy — 

From  a  base  as  fair  and  sure 

As  our  love  is  true  and  pure.     .     .     . 

On  his  broad  brow  let  there  be 

A  type  of  Ireland's  history  ; 

Pious,  generous,  deep  and  warm, 

Strong  and  changeful  as  a  storm     .     .     . 

Knit  his  look  to  purpose  stern.      .     .     . 

And  the  hope  that  leads  him  on     ... 

Thus  he  spoke  and  thus  he  stood, 

Proffering  in  our  cause  his  blood.     .     . 

Chisel  thus,  and  thus  alone, 

If  to  the  man  you'd  change  the  stone." 

"O'Connell's  Statue,"  by  THOMAS  DAVIS. 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL,   THE  LIBERATOR  263 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 
DANIEL  O'CONNELL,  THE  LIBERATOR. 

The  Irish  Catholics,  who  had  hoped  that  the  Union 
would  be  accompanied,  or  shortly  followed,  by  the 
removal  of  the  disabilities  under  which  they  laboured, 
very  quickly  found  out  that  that  hope  was  but  a  delu- 
sion and  a  snare.  A  vigorous  agitation  for  Catholic 
Emancipation  was  now  started  and  brought  to  the 
front  a  man  whose  name  soon  became  a  power  in  the 
land,  a  man  who  was  destined  to  win  by  his  wonderful 
forensic  eloquence  those  rights  so  long  denied  him  and 
his  fellow-religionists. 

This  was  the  renowned  Daniel  O'Connell,  rightfully 
called  "  the  Liberator. "  He  was  born  1775,  near 
Cahirciveen  in  Kerry.  Adopting  the  legal  profession,  he 
was  called  to  the  Bar  in  the  year  of  horror  and  heroism, 
1798.  In  1800  he  spoke  at  a  meeting  against  the 
Union,  and  after  it  he  became  the  leader  of  the  Catholics 
of  Ireland,  being  elected,  in  1810,  the  chairman  of  their 
committee.  With  his  legal  knowledge  and  great 
shrewdness,  he  was  able  to  evade  the  law  of  several 
new  Acts,  which  were  made  to  suppress  the  various 
associations  that  he  formed,  and  so  fearlessly  continued 
his  agitation. 

At  one  of  the  Catholic  meetings  that  took  place  in 


264  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

January,  1815,  O'Connell  referred  to  the  corporation 
of  Dublin  as  "  beggarly."  To  this  reference  a  Mr. 
D'Esterre  took  exception  and  challenged  O'Connell 
to  a  duel  with  pistols.  O'Connell — though  many  of 
his  friends  believed  the  whole  affair  was  simply  a  plot 
of  his  enemies  to  try  and  get  rid  of  him — accepted  the 
challenge,  and  had  for  his  second  a  noted  duellist,  Major 
MacNamara,  known  as  "  Fireball "  MacNamara,  on 
account  of  his  duelling  propensities. 

D'Esterre  and  O'Connell  met  at  Bishop's  Court 
outside  Dublin,  and  O'Connell  mortally  wounded  his 
antagonist  with  his  first  shot,  D'Esterre  missing  him. 
O'Connell,  however,  deeply  regretted  having  caused  the 
unfortunate  man's  death.  In  the  same  year  he  was 
challenged  to  fight  another  duel  by  Secretary  Peel, 
but  they  never  met,  O'Connell  being  arrested  in 
London  on  his  way  to  the  Continent  where  the  duel  was 
to  take  place. 

So  high  ran  sectarian  feeling  in  England  that  he  made 
very  little  progress  until  1821,  when  a  Catholic  Relief 
Bill  rewarded  his  efforts  and  passed  the  Commons,  to 
be  thrown  out  by  the  Lords.  O'Connell,  two  years 
later  (1823)  founded  the  Catholic  Association,  members 
subscribing  a  pound  a  year  and  associates  one  shilling. 
Then  penny  monthly  subscriptions  were  adopted. 
These  subscriptions  were  called  the  "  Catholic  Rent," 
and  soon  averaged  £500  a  week.  Government,  alarmed, 
promptly  suppressed  the  Association  by  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment, whereupon  O'Connell  re-started  it  under  another 
name,  that  of  "  The  New  Catholic  Association,"  when, 
ashamed  of  themselves  possibly,  the  authorities  did  not 
again  interfere. 


DANIEL  0'CONNEI<L,  THE  UBERATOR.  265 

In  the  general  election  of  1826,  the  Protestant  mem- 
bers for  Waterford,  Louth  and  Monaghan,  were  pledged 
to  support  the  Catholic  cause ;  and  in  1828,  a  vacancy 
occurring  in  the  representation  of  Clare  through  Vesey 
Fitzgerald  accepting  office  in  the  Duke  of  Wellington's 
ministry,  and  having  to  seek  re-election,  O'Connell 
resolved  to  stand  against  him. 

O'Connell  obtained  2,057  votes  and  Fitzgerald,  1,075. 
It  was  argued  that,  as  a  Catholic,  O'Connell  could  not 
sit  in  Parliament.  The  law,  however,  as  he  knew,  did 
not  directly  prevent  him  doing  so,  but  it  required  him 
to  take  an  oath  denying  certain  doctrines  of  his  faith 
which  no  Catholic  could  take. 

After  the  election,  O'Connell's  journey  back  to  Dublin 
was  a  regular  triumphal  march.  The  Government  were 
terror-stricken,  but  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  himself 
an  Irishman  and  the  British  Prime  Minister,  said  Catho- 
lic Emancipation  must  become  law  or  there  would  be 
civil  war  in  Ireland  again.  "  I  advocate  the  measure," 
he  said.  "  first  and  foremost  to  prevent  another  rebellion 
like  '98,  and,  secondly,  out  of  gratitude  to  those  Irish 
soldiers  who  helped  so  much  to  win  Waterloo." 

Sir  Robert  Peel,  therefore,  brought  in  the  Catholic 
Relief  Act  in  1829,  making  Catholics  eligible  for  all  offices, 
civil  and  military,  excepting  the  Regency,  the  Lord 
Lieutenancy  of  Ireland  and  the  Lord  Chancellorship 
of  England,  and  framing  a  new  form  of  oath  for  Catholics 
elected  to  any  office  to  take,  omitting  what  was  objec- 
tionable. At  the  same  time,  though,  an  Act  was  passed 
disfranchising  all  403.  holders — by  whose  help  chiefly 
O'Connell  had  been  elected — and  substituting  a  £10 
freehold  as  qualification  for  a  vote,  a  most  dastardly 


266  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

piece  of  business,  at  which  all  decent-minded  English- 
men were  heartily  disgusted.  The  number  of  votes 
by  this  electioneering  dodge  were  reduced  instantan- 
eously from  200,000  to  26,000.  It  seems  incredible  that 
any  men  could  have  been  found  even  in  the  most 
hollow-hearted  and  bigoted  national  assembly  to  pass 
such  an  unjust  and  cowardly  Bill. 

O'Connell  now  claimed  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. As  he  had  been  elected  before  the  passing  of 
the  Emancipation  Act,  he  was  called  on  to  take  the 
old  obnoxious  Oath  of  Supremacy.  This  declared  cer- 
tain Catholic  doctrines  to  be  "  impious  and  idolatrous." 

"  I  decline,  Mr.  Clerk,"  he  thereupon  replied,  "  to 
take  this  oath.  Part  of  it  I  know  to  be  false  ;  another 
part  of  it  I  do  not  believe  to  be  true." 

As  he  persisted  in  his  refusal,  the  Speaker  eventually 
ordered  him  to  retire.  O'Connell  looked  round  the 
House,  bowed,  but  still  stood  opposite  to  the  Speaker, 
without  making  any  further  observation.  The  Speaker 
hereupon  called  on  him  a  second  time  to  withdraw, 
and  then  O'Connell,  bowing,  did  so  in  silence. 

Later  Sir  Robert  Peel  moved  that  O'Connell  be  heard 
at  the  Bar  of  the  House.  This  was  agreed  to,  and  the 
"  Liberator  "  there  advanced  his  claim  in  a  long  and 
powerfully  argumentative  speech.  But  his  claim  was 
rejected.  He  appeared  three  times  at  the  Bar,  each 
time  refusing  to  take  the  old  oath. 

On  this  a  writ  for  a  fresh  election  was  issued.  O'Con- 
nell again  stood  and  was  re-elected,  when  the  new  oath, 
with  all  the  old  objectionable  features  deleted,  was 
presented  to  him.  He  readily  took  this  oath,  and  so 
was  allowed  to  sit.  He  was  the  first  Catholic  to  do  so 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL,   THE  LIBERATOR.  267 

since  the  Penal  days,  and  a  new  era  had  dawned  for 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

In  1820,  a  new  and  formidable  secret  society  came  into 
existence.  This  was  Ribbonism  or  the  Ribbonmen. 
It  was  purely  a  Catholic  peasant  organisation,  and  was 
at  first  directed  against  unjust  landlords.  A  great 
many  agrarian  murders  are  attributed  to  the  more 
violent  members  between  1858  and  1879.  Later  it  was 
directed  against  the  Orangemen,  and  faction  fights 
frequently  occurred.  It  extended  in  the  'fifties  to 
Irishmen  settled  in  England  and  became  amongst  them 
a  sort  of  secret  trade  unionism,  no  man  being  allowed 
to  work  with  them  unless  he  joined  them.  In  the  time 
of  the  Fenians,  1865-7,  the  Ribbonmen  refused  for  the 
most  part  to  be  drawn  into  that  organisation,  because 
the  latter  embraced  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics. 
In  June,  1871,  Ribbonism  was  suppressed  by  law. 
From  the  first  the  Catholic  clergy  waged  a  determined 
war  upon  it,  denouncing  it  from  the  altar,  yet  it  re- 
mained from  first  to  last  exclusively  Catholic.  It  had 
secret  signs,  handgrips,  and  passwords,  and  produced 
a  remarkable  character  named  Richard  Jones,  who 
was  convicted  in  1840.  He  was  its  grand  secretary,  and 
apparently  did  his  best  to  turn  the  organisation  into  a 
political  conspiracy  against  the  Government.  But  his 
efforts  were  not  successful.  Ribbonism  remained  to  the 
end  merely  an  agrarian  or  labour  combination.  • 

A  dreadful  "  Tithe  War  "  was  meanwhile  raging  over 
the  country,  and  conflicts  resulting  in  loss  of  life  fre- 
quently took  place  between  the  peasantry  and  the 
military  and  police.  The  tithes  were  a  tax  levied  on  all 
farmers,  Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant,  for  the  support 


268  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

of  the  Protestant  clergy,  and  these  levies  were  collected 
in  particularly  odious  ways.  Coercion  Acts  proving 
useless,  measures  were  at  last  taken  to  satisfy  the 
Catholics,  the  number  of  Protestant  bishops  being 
reduced  from  eighteen  to  ten,  and  the  church  rate 
abolished.  This  was  a  tax  for  the  maintenance  or  repair 
of  Protestant  churches.  In  1838,  the  "  Tithe  Bill  " 
reduced  the  tithes  by  a  fourth  and  laid  them  on 
the  landlord  instead  of  the  tenant,  with  the  result 
that  "  the  landlord  added  the  tithes  to  the  rent." 
(Murphy). 

In  this  same  year,  1838,  the  great  Father  Theobald 
Mathew,  a  Capuchin  friar  of  Cork,  accomplished  a 
tremendous  amount  of  good  by  advocating  teetotalism. 
In  less  than  a  year  he  induced  150,000  persons  to  take 
the  pledge  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  liquors. 
He  had  already  won  great  esteem  by  his  heroism  in  a 
cholera  epidemic,  six  years  before.  He  is  known  as  the 
"  apostle  of  temperance  "  and  he  worked  "  a  revolution 
the  like  of  which  history  does  not  record,"  with  the 
result  that  crime  decreased  rapidly. 

Having  won  Catholic  Emancipation,  the  great 
Liberator  now  turned  to  the  Union  itself.  He  demanded 
the  Repeal  of  the  Act  of  Union  as  essential  for  the  pros- 
perity of  Ireland,  and  started  a  Repeal  Organisation, 
holding  meetings  everywhere.  Vast  numbers  attended 
these,  and  many  of  the  Repealers,  with  the  idea  of 
adopting  the  same  course  as  the  Volunteers  of  1782, 
came  "  in  something  like  military  array,"  so  that  the 
Government  again  became  alarmed.  At  a  meeting  at 
Tara,  the  old  palace  of  the  Milesian  dynasty,  .  50,000 
people  were  present. 


DANIEI,  O'CONNEU,,  THE  LIBERATOR.  269 

O'Connell  appointed  another  monster  meeting  at 
Clontarf  on  Sunday,  October  8th,  1843.  The  Lord 
Lieutenant  prohibited  it  as  "  calculated  to  excite 
reasonable  and  well-grounded  apprehension,"  and  large 
bodies  of  troops  were  drafted  into  Dublin  and  warships 
stationed  in  the  harbours  all  round  the  coast.  O'Connell, 
to  the  chagrin  and  bitter  disappointment  of  many  of 
his  most  ardent  supporters,  said  the  law  must  be 
obeyed,  and  so  the  meeting  was  not  held.  Neverthe- 
less, O'Connell  and  others  were  prosecuted  on  the  score 
of  conspiracy,  and  the  Liberator  was  found  guilty,  by 
a  packed  jury,  and  sentenced  to  a  year's  imprisonment 
and  a  fine  of  £2,000. 

The  great  Dan  appealed  to  the  House  of  Lords, 
and  had  the  verdict  quashed,  Lord  Denman  declaring 
it  to  be  "  a  delusion,  a  mockery,  and  a  snare."  O'Connell 
had  served  three  months'  imprisonment,  however,  and 
his  health  was  undermined  by  it,  as  well  as  disappoint- 
ment at  the  failure  of  the  Repeal  Movement.  It  but 
wanted  the  horrible  famine  that  fell  on  the  land,  the 
awful  potato-blight  of  1845,  to  bring  about  the  end. 
Heartbroken  he  died  at  Genoa  on  his  way  to  Rome, 
on  May  I5th,  1847.  ^e  was  given  a  national  funeral 
"  nobly  befitting  his  title  of  the  Uncrowned  Monarch  " 
of  Ireland. 

The  horrible  famine  to  which  we  have  referred  lasted 
from  1845  to  1847,  through  the  failure  everywhere  of 
the  potato  crops,  and  people  died  in  thousands  from 
fever,  dysentery  and  sheer  starvation.  The  population 
of  our  country  was  reduced  in  those  three  terrible, 
never-to-be-forgotten  years  by  two  and  a  half  millions 
of  people !  Let  us  hasten  to  leave  such  a  heartrending 


270  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

subject,  with  the  remark  that  it  is  a  lasting  disgrace 
to  the  English  administration  of  the  time. 

"  O'Connell  was  a  thorough  Celt,"  wrote  the  late 
Justin  McCarthy,  M.P.,  in  his  "  History  of  our  own 
times."  "  He  represented  all  the  impulsiveness,  the 
quick-changing  emotions,  the  passionate,  exaggerated 
loves  and  hatreds  .  .  .  the  ebullient  humour — 
all  the  other  qualities  that  are  especially  characteristic 
of  the  Celt.  .  .  .  He  had  a  herculean  frame,  a 
stately  presence,  a  face  capable  of  expressing  easily 
and  effectively  the  most  rapid  alternations  of  mood, 
and  a  voice  which  all  hearers  admit  to  have  been  almost 
unrivalled  for  strength  and  sweetness.  Its  power,  its 
pathos,  its  passion,  its  music  have  been  described  in 
words  of  positive  rapture  by  men  who  detested 
O'Connell.  He  spoke  without  studied  preparation. 
.  .  .  .  He  always  spoke  right  to  the  hearts  of  his 
hearers.  .  .  He  entered  the  House  of  Commons 
when  he  was  nearly  54  years  of  age.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Roebuck  has  said  that  he  considers  O'Connell  the  greatest 
orator  he  ever  heard  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Charles 
Dickens,  when  a  reporter  in  the  gallery.  .  .  .  put 
down  his  pencil  once  when  engaged  in  reporting  a  speech 
of  O'Connell  on  one  of  the  tithe  riots  in  Ireland,  and 
declared  that  he  could  not  take  notes  of  the  speech, 
so  moved  was  he  by  its  pathos." 

Lady  Wilde  thus  wrote  of  him  :  "  From  the  moment 
of  his  entrance  into  public  life  he  became  the  soul  of 
the  Catholic  party.  He  was  then  25,  with  a  fine,  tall, 
manly,  athletic  figure,  and  a  noble,  commanding  air, 
with  considerable  dignity  about  the  carriage  and  move- 
ments of  the  head  and  shoulders.  Amongst  ten  thou- 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL,   THE  LIBERATOR.  27! 

sand  a  stranger's  eye  would  at  once  have  fixed  on  him 
as  the  true  king.  Even  to  the  last  he  retained  his 
majesty  of  bearing ;  an  intelligent,  expressive  face. 
.  .  .  .  The  most  striking  characteristic  of  the  coun- 
tenance was  the  excessive  beauty  and  whiteness  of  his 
forehead.  It  was  delicately  formed,  too,  rather  broad 
than  high,  with  no  demagogical  lowering  preponder- 
ance over  the  eyebrows.  .  .  .  Each  individual 
Catholic  felt  that  he  was  elevated  by  his  leader's 
courage,  and  ennobled  by  the  lofty  independence  of 
this  man  who  knew  no  fear." 

O'Connor  Morris  says, "  His  gifts  were  of  the  highest 
order  .  .  .  and  Catholic  Ireland  owes  an  incal- 
culable debt  to  him  ....  His  ideal  was  the 
restoration  of  the  old  Irish  Parliament,  an  ideal  that 
may  have  appeared  attainable  to  a  spectator  of  the 
events  of  1782." 

"  And  shall  it  last,  this  Union, 

To  grind  and  waste  us  so  ? 
O'er  hill  and  lea,  from  sea  to  sea, 

All  Ireland  thunders,  No  ! 
Eight  million  necks  are  stiff  to  bow — 

We  know  our  might  as  men — 
We  conquered  once  before,  and  now 

We'll  conquer  once  again  ; 
And  rend  this  cursed  Union 

And  fling  it  to  the  wind — 
And  Ireland's  laws  in  Ireland's  cause 

Alone  our  hearts  shall  bind." 

JOHN  O'HAGAN. 


272  THE    ROMANCE    OP    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
THE  YOUNG  IRELANDERS. 

Some  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  Repeal  Association 
had  broken  away  from  O'Connell,  considering  his 
constitutional  policy  of  moral  force  to  be  useless, 
and  advocating  instead  physical  force  again — open 
rebellion. 

These  seceders  from  "  the  constitutional  party " 
were  called  "  Young  Irelanders,"  and  the  chief  amongst 
them  were  John  Mitchel,  who  practically  started  this 
new  revolutionary  movement ;  Thomas  Davis,  the 
poet ;  and  William  Smith  O'Brien,  who  were  all  three 
Protestants.  They  established  the  "  Nation "  and 
"  United  Irishman "  newspapers,  which  ultimately 
openly  incited  their  readers  to  insurrection.  Mitchel 
was  arrested,  in  1848,  for  seditious  writings  and  speeches, 
along  with  Thomas  Francis  Meagher,  who  is  known  as 
"  Meagher  of  the  Sword  "  because  of  a  stirring  speech 
he  once  made  in  Conciliation  Hall,  praising  the  sword 
or  an  appeal  to  it  as  an  arbiter  in  the  disputes  of 
nations. 

The  "  Young  Ireland "  movement  was  not  only 
revolutionary,  it  was  a  great  Irish  intellectual 
awakening,  and  gave  a  tremendous  fillip  to  Irish  litera- 
ture and  poetry.  Thomas  Osborne  Davis,  the  poet, 


THE  YOUNG  IREI.ANDERS.  273 

was  the  real  leader,  but  he  never  advocated  insurrection, 
and  had  he  lived  this  might  not  have  happened.  His 
fame  as  a  national  poet  rivals  that  of  his  predecessor, 
Thomas  Moore.  He  was  born  in  Mallow,  in  1814,  and 
died  at  the  early  age  of  31,  leaving,  however,  an  im- 
perishable name  on  Ireland's  roll  of  brilliant  men. 
His  poems  "  Fontenoy  "  and  "  The  Surprise  of  Cremona" 
will  endure  while  his  countrymen  remember  those 
victories  of  the  "  Wild  Geese,"  which  must  be  for  all 
time.  As  well  a  sa  poet,  he  was  "  a  philosopher,  an 
historian,  a  man  who  had  read  much  and  thought 
much,  tolerant,  kindly,  forbearing,  with  broad,  human 
sympathies  and  a  passionate  love  for  Ireland." 

A  scene  that  took  place  a  few  months  before  his  death 
between  him  and  O'Connell  instances  his  keenly  sen- 
sitive, lovable  nature  and  affection  for  his  country  and 
her  great  leader  O'Connell  as  her  "  Liberator." 

At  a  crowded  meeting  in  Conciliation  Hall,  O'Connell 
turned  fiercely  on  him. 

"  There  is  no  such  party,"  the  Liberator  exclaimed, 
"  as  that  styled  Young  Irelanders.  It  is  time  that  this 
delusion  should  be  put  an  end  to.  Young  Ireland  may 
play  what  pranks  they  please.  I  do  not  envy  them  the 
name  they  rejoice  in.  I  shall  stand  by  Old  Ireland, 
and  I  have  some  slight  notion  that  Old  Ireland  will 
stand  by  me." 

O'Connell  could  be  very  truculent  in  his  speeches, 
but  his  truculence  was  never  so  misdirected  as  it  was 
on  that  memorable  occasion,  never  so  uncalled  for 
as  when  levelled  at  its  then  recipient. 

Davis,  who  felt  unbounded  admiration  for  O'Connell, 
as  we  have  said,  "  was  deeply  hurt,  and,  in  replying, 

T 


2/4  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

burst  into  tears."  And  never  tears  so  well  became  a  man. 
They  were  no  shame  but  every  credit  to  his  manhood 
and  noble,  deep-feeling  temperament — they  uncovered 
the  great,  sensitive,  pulsing  heart  of  the  man  to  the 
keen,  swiftly  discerning  eyes  of  the  old  chief,  who  was 
in  his  turn  profoundly  touched.  Rising  to  his  feet, 
he  seized  and  wrung  Davis's  hand,  pouring  out  pro- 
testations of  regret ;  "  there  were  mutual  explanations 
and  expressions  of  affection  and  goodwill ;  and  with  the 
public  reconciliation  of  Davis  and  O'Connell  an  end  was 
put  to  this  painful  scene." 

Yet  for  all  its  pain  to  the  actors,  we  would  not  have 
had  it  not  happen,  for  it  shows  us,  better  than  anything, 
the  truly  great  natures  of  the  two  men. 

Davis  died,  as  we  have  said,  in  the  flower  of  his  youth, 
of  scarlet  fever,  and  his  loss  was  keenly  felt  by  his  party, 
the  members  of  which  more  than  once  exclaimed : 
"  If  only  Davis  were  with  us  now." 

His  portrait  shows  us  a  square,  heavy  face,  with  a 
broad,  noble  brow,  large,  inexpressibly  soft,  soulful 
eyes,  a  sharp  aquiline  nose — the  nose  of  a  practical, 
as  well  as  poetic,  nature,  and  something  of  the  fighter 
withal — a  sweet,  speaking  mouth.  The  eyebrows  are 
well-defined,  and  slightly  arched,  the  hair  long,  and 
luxuriant  and  wavy,  parted  at  one  side,  and  joining  a 
slight  whisker  that  fringes  the  jaw  and  chin. 

Among  others  of  the  bright  galaxy  of  talent  that  the 
Young  Ireland  movement  produced  should  be  men- 
tioned Sir  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  Thomas  D'Arcy 
Magee,  Michael  Doheny,  James  Clarence  Mangan, 
D' Alton  Williams,  Lady  Wilde  ("  Speranza  "),  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kevin  Izod  O'Doherty.  Mrs.  O'Doherty 


THE  YOUNG  IREI^ANDERS.  2/5 

wrote  under  the  nom-de-plume  of  "  Eva "  of  the 
"  Nation,"  the  organ  started  by  the  Young  Ireland 
party. 

It  was  Thackeray  in  his  "  Book  of  Snobs,"  who  first 
called  Meagher  "  Meagher  of  the  Sword,"  and  Irishmen 
proudly  took  up  the  name  and  gave  it  to  him. 

A  most  dramatic  scene  took  place  at  John  Mitchel's 
trial  at  Green  Street  on  the  22nd  May,  before  Baron 
Lefroy. 

"  The  Roman  who  saw  his  hand  burning  to  ashes 
before  the  tyrant,  promised  that  300  should  follow  his 
example.  Can  I  not  promise  for  one,  for  two,  for  three, 
aye  for  hundreds  ?"  he  cried  in  the  dock,  looking  proudly 
towards  his  friends  in  court. 

There  was  immediately  a  shout  from  all  sides  of  it : 
"  For  me  !  For  me  !  Promise  for  me,  Mitchel !  "  "  And 
for  me  !  "  Many  reached  over  and  grasped  his  hand, 
and  the  judge  hurriedly  ordered  the  prisoner  to  be  re- 
moved. Mitchel  was  sentenced  to  14  years'  transpor- 
tation, and  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  was  suspended  and 
warrants  were  made  out  for  the  arrest  of  others. 

On  that  William  Smith  O'Brien  raised  an  insurrection 
in  Tipperary,  and  at  the  head  of  a  couple  of  hundred 
men,  who  responded  to  his  call,  attacked  a  police  bar- 
racks at  Ballingarry.  The  house  was  strong,  the  police 
were  well  armed,  and  the  rebels  were  soon  dispersed. 
A  youth  named  James  Stephens  who  was  shot  in  the 
leg  by  the  police  will  be  heard  of  later. 

William  Smith  O'Brien,  the  leader  on  this  occasion, 
was  the  second  son  of  Sir  Edward  O'Brien  of  County 
Clare,  and  on  the  death  of  his  kinsman,  the  last  Marquis 
of  Thomond,  his  eldest  brother  became  Baron  Inchiquin. 


276  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

He  was  educated  at  Harrow  and  Cambridge,  and  his 
alliance  with  the  patriot  party  caused  a  sensation  in 
aristocratic  circles.  £500  was  offered  for  his  apprehen- 
sion the  day  before  the  affair  at  Ballingarry.  Of  the 
men  around  him  in  that  engagement,  if  it  can  be  dignified 
by  the  name  of  such,  "  not  more  than  20  possessed 
firearms,  about  twice  that  number  were  armed  with 
pikes  and  pitchforks,  the  remainder  had  but  their 
naked  hands  and  the  stones  they  could  gather  by  the 
wayside."  Opposed  to  them  were  47  disciplined  men 
splendidly  armed. 

For  nearly  two  hours  the  firing  continued.  A  des- 
perate spirit,  Terence  Bellew  McManus,  "  rolled  a  cart- 
load of  hay  up  to  the  kitchen  door  of  the  barracks  with 
the  intention  of  setting  fire  to  it  and  burning  down  the 
house.  But  O'Brien  would  not  permit  it  .  .  .  . 
and  the  first  and  last  battle  of  the  insurrection  was  lost 
and  won."  A  strong  force  of  Constabulary  from 
Cashel  was  approaching,  and  the  rebels  broke  up. 

O'Brien  was  not  captured  until  August  5th.  He 
was  tried  for  high  treason  at  Clonmel  and  found  guilty, 
when  he  was  sentenced  to  death,  a  sentence  afterwards 
commuted  to  transportation  to  Van  Diemen's  Land. 
McManus  and  Meagher  accompanied  him.  In  1854 
he  was  granted  an  unconditional  pardon.  He  returned 
to  Ireland  after  a  voyage  to  America,  and  died  in  1864, 
being  buried  at  Rathcronan,  County  Limerick. 

Meagher  escaped  from  captivity  in  Van  Diemen's 
Land  in  1852.  Mitchel  also  escaped,  as  did  one  or  two 
others.  Mitchel  and  Meagher  took  opposite  sides  in  the 
American  Civil  War-r-for  both  had  fled  to  America — 
the  former  the  Southern  or  Confederate  side,  and  the 


THE  YOUNG  IRELANDERS.  277 

latter  who  rose  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier-General — show- 
ing that  he  did  know  something  about  the  sword  he  had 
so  eloquently  advocated — fighting  in  many  battles  on 
the  Northern  or  Federal  side.  Meagher  raised  a  Zouave 
company  and  fought  at  Bull's  Run,  where  the  Irish 
"  saved  the  Federal  forces  from  annihilation  on  that 
field  of  disaster."  Subsequently  he  organised  and 
commanded  the  American  Irish  Brigade  of  the  2nd 
Army  Corps.  L,ike  the  French  Irish  Brigade,  it  "  won 
imperishable  laurels  throughout  the  hard-fought  cam- 
paigns that  ended  with  the  capture  of  Richmond." 
Meagher  himself  led  the  historic  charge  at  Fredericks- 
burg  in  the  teeth  of  the  enemy's  guns.  In  that  dreadful 
fight  the  Brigade  was  nearly  destroyed,  fighting 
brother  Irishmen,  the  Georgian  militia  enlisted  under 
the  star-dotted  St.  Andrew's  Cross  of  the  South. 

The  smooth  hill  is  bare,  and  the  cannons  are  planted, 

Like  Gorgon  fates  shading  its  terrible  brow, 
The  word  has  been  passed  that  the  stormers  are  wanted, 

And  Burnside's  battalions  are  mustering  now. 

Strong  earthworks  are  there,  and  the  rifles  behind  them 

Are  Georgian  militia — an  Irish  brigade — 
Their  caps  have  green  badges  as  if  to  remind  them 

Of  all  the  brave  record  their  country  has  made.     .     . 

What  is  it  in  these  that  shall  now  do  the  storming, 
That  makes  every  Georgian  spring  to  his  feet  ?     .     .    . 

"  'Tis  Meagher  and  his  fellows  I  their  caps  bear  green  clover, 
'Tis  Greek  to  Greek  now  for  the  rest  of  the  fight !  " 

Twelve  hundred  the  column,  their  rent  flag  before  them — 
With  Meagher  at  their  head  they  have  dashed  at  the  hill ! 

Their  foemen  are  proud  of  the  country  that  bore  them  ; 
But,  Irish  in  love,  they  are  enemies  still     .     .     , 


278  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

It  is  Green  against  Green,  but  a  principle  stifles 
The  Irishman's  love  in  the  Georgian's  blow. 

The  column  has  reeled,  but  it  is  not  defeated ; 

In  front  of  the  guns  they  reform  and  attack, 
Six  times  they  have  done  it,  and  six  times  retreated — 

Twelve  hundred  they  came,  and  two  hundred  go  back.     .     . 

Bright  honour  be  theirs  who  for  honour  were  fearless, 
Who  charged  for  their  flag  to  the  grim  cannon's  mouth ; 

And  honour  to  those  who  were  true,  though  not  tearless — 
Who  bravely,  that  day,  kept  the  cause  of  the  South.* 

On  the  cessation  of  the  Civil  War,  Meagher  was  made 
Governor  of  Montana  Territory,  in  the  Far  West, 
and  descending  the  great  Missouri  river  by  steamer, 
one  wild,  dark  night,  in  July,  1867,  he  fell  overboard 
and  was  never  seen  again  He  was  a  finished  scholar, 
a  genial  friend,  a  matchless  orator,  but  above  all  and 
before  all,  a  soldier. 

Sir  Charles  Gavan  Duffy,  in  1871,  became  Prime 
Minister  of  Victoria,  Australia,  and  Thomas  D'Arcy 
Magee,  a  minister  of  the  crown  in  Canada.  Magee  has 
left  as  his  best  memorial  one  of  the  ablest  histories  of 
Ireland  we  possess 


*  From  John  Boyle  O'Reilly's  well-known  poem,  "  Fredericks- 
burg." 


JAMES  STEPHENS  AND  THE  FENIAN  MOVEMENT.      279 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
JAMES  STEPHENS  AND  THE  FENIAN  MOVEMENT. 

The  failure  of  the  '48,  or  Young  Ireland,  revolt  did  not 
deter  two  of  those  who  had  taken  part  in  it  from  still 
pinning  their  hopes  of  effecting  Irish  independence  to 
force  of  arms ;  and,  in  1858,  these  two  men,  James 
Stephens,  the  youth  we  referred  to  as  being  wounded  at 
Ballingarry,  and  John  O'Mahony,  conspired  to  work 
on  the  lines  of  Wolfe  Tone  and  establish  a  secret, 
oath-bound  organisation  for  the  promotion  and  further- 
ance of  another  armed  insurrection. 

Stephens  came  to  Ireland  for  that  purpose,  and 
O'Mahony  went  through  America.  The  society,  first 
known  as  "  the  Phoenix  Society,"  gradually  changed 
its  name  into  that  of  "  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,"  at 
the  suggestion  of  O'Mahony,  who  was  fond  of  ancient 
Irish  lore  and  chose  the  name  from  the  oldtime  Fenians 
or  national  Milesian  militia. 

Stephens  himself,  though,  preferred,  and  gave  more 
particularly  to  the  Irish  branch  of  the  conspiracy, 
the  name  of  the  "  I.R.B.",  or  "  Irish  Republican 
Brotherhood,"  of  which  he  called  himself  the  C.O.I.R., 
or  "  Central  Organiser  of  the  Irish  Republic." 

It  was  the  time  of  the  Indian  Mutiny  and  the  occasion 
seemed  propitious.  Stephens  met  with  great  success 


28O  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

in  Ireland,  most  of  the  young  men  in  Cork  and  Kerry 
joining  his  society,  among  others  Jeremiah  O'Donovan 
Rossa,  Charles  Kickham,  Thomas  Clarke  Luby,  and 
John  O%eary,  who  became  prominent  leaders.  As  a 
secret  society,  however,  the  Catholic  Church  condemned 
Fenianism.  Nevertheless,  thousands  of  Irish  exiles  in 
America  joined  the  movement,  and  took  part  in  the 
great  civil  war  between  North  and  South  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  the  use  of  arms  and  "  returning  with 
rifles  on  their  shoulders  to  free  their  native  land." 

Most  Irishmen  in  Great  Britain  at  this  time  belonged 
to  the  perfectly  open  and  legitimate  "  Brotherhood  of 
St.  Patrick,"  the  single  object  of  which  was  "  to  compass 
the  union  of  Irishmen  for  the  achievement  of  Irish 
independence."  From  this  organisation  Fenianism 
drew  most  of  its  recruits  ;  and  great  impulse  was  given 
to  the  new  revolutionary  movement  by  the  remarkable 
national  demonstration  which  was  made  the  occasion 
of  the  funeral  of  Terence  Bellew  McManus,  one  of  the 
'48  or  Young  Ireland  party.  He  had  escaped  from 
Van  Dieman's  Land  in  1851,  and  had  just  died  in 
California.  His  body  was  brought,  attended  by  a 
powerful  escort,  all  the  way  from  San  Francisco  and 
buried  in  Glasnevin,  Dublin,  in  presence  of  50,000  men 
and  under  the  most  impressive  circumstances,  on  Sun- 
day, November  loth,  1861. 

In  November,  1863,  Stephens  started  the  "  Irish 
People  "  newspaper  as  the  organ  of  Fenianism,  and  this 
paper  openly  preached  insurrection  until  September 
1865,  when  the  authorities  swooped  down  on  the  office, 
seized  all  the  documents  and  plant,  and  arrested  Rossa, 
Luby,  O'Leary,  and  others.  Stephens  evaded  arrest 


JAMES  STEPHENS  AND  THE  FENIAN  MOVEMENT.         28l 

at  the  time,  but  was  later  tracked  to  Fairfield 
House,  Sandymount,  outside  Dublin,  where  the  police 
effected  an  entry  and  his  capture.  This  was  on  Novem- 
ber nth.  In  the  dock  of  the  police-court,  he  spoke 
fearlessly  and  defiantly ;  and  a  few  days  later  the 
utmost  consternation  and  alarm  prevailed  in  Govern- 
ment circles,  for  he  had  escaped  from  Richmond  Gaol, 
Dublin,  where  he  had  been  incarcerated  ! 

This  remarkable  and  historic  escape  or  rescue  was 
effected  by  two  warders,  named  John  J.  Breslin  and 
Daniel  Byrne,  who  were  in  secret  sympathy  with  the 
Fenians,  if  not  actually  members  of  the  brotherhood 
at  the  time.  They  entered  into  communication  with 
Colonel  Thomas  Kelly,  Stephens'  successor  as  head  of 
the  conspiracy  and  one  of  the  Irish-American  officers 
who  were  to  lead  the  rebel  forces  in  the  field.  Kelly, 
Devoy,  and  about  a  dozen  others,  all  sworn  members 
of  the  brotherhood,  armed  with  revolvers,  waited  outside 
the  prison  walls,  while  Breslin  and  Byrne  opened 
Stephens's  cell-door,  and  with  the  ladder  used  for 
lighting  the  lamps,  set  against  the  inner  wall  on  top 
of  two  tables,  one  upon  another,  enabled  him  to  get 
into  the  governor's  garden. 

"  He  walked  over  to  a  pear  tree,  indicated  by  Breslin, 
which  grew  close  to  the  outer  wall  and  which  would 
aid  him  in  climbing  it.  Hearing  no  footsteps  outside 
he  took  a  handful  of  sand  and  flung  it  over  the  outer 
wall  into  the  Circular  Road."  (Denvir). 

Kelly's  party  were  on  the  alert  outside,  and  at  once 
threw  a  rope  over.  Stephens  climbed  up  it  to  the  top 
of  the  wall  and  then  dropped  down  in  the  midst  of  his 
friends,  who  crowded  together  to  break  the  fall,  from  the 


282  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

height  of  18  feet.  Breslin  and  Byrne  escaped  detection 
and  fled  to  America  ;  while  Stephens  was  successfully 
concealed,  and  then  drove  one  night  with  Colonel  Kelly 
down  to  the  quays  in  an  open  car  and  slipped  aboard  a 
fishing  hooker  at  the  North  Wall.  The  vessel,  bound 
for  France,  was  compelled  by  stormy  weather  to  put 
into  Ayr,  whence  Stephens  travelled  in  the  mail  train 
to  London,  dressed  as  a  seafaring  man.  He  then  made 
his  way  to  Calais,  via  Dover.  A  big  reward  was  offered 
for  his  re-capture  in  vain. 

Mr.  James  O'Connor,  M.P.,  who  was  introduced  to 
James  Stephens  in  1858  in  Cork,  has  given  the  following 
description  of  him.  "  Although  he  was  then  but  thirty- 
four  years  of  age,  he  struck  me  mainly  on  account  of 
his  complete  baldness  as  a  man  of  fifty  or  more.  His 
height  was  about  five  feet  eight ;  he  was  squarely  and 
compactly  built,  he  had  a  long  fair  beard  and  heavy 
moustache  ;  his  movements  were  quick,  his  mind  and 
judgment  remarkably  alert  and  decisive.  His  clear, 
sharp  blue  eye  was  the  most  striking  feature  of  his 
handsome  face.  So  keen  and  penetrating  was  his 
glance  that  the  Skibbereen  men  called  him  Seabac, 
pronounced  '  shouk,'  which  the  Press  subsequently 
turned  into  Mr.  '  Shook.' '  It  is  probable,  though, 
that  he  was  shorter  than  5  ft.  8  in.,  for  he  was  often 
affectionately  referred  to  by  his  lieutenants,  mostly 
big  men,  as  "  the  little  man." 

Stephens'  face  was  of  a  most  amiable,  kindly  type, 
so  much  so  that  an  English  friend  of  the  author's, 
happening  to  see  a  portrait  of  him,  asked,  "Who  was 
that  noble-looking,  benevolent  old  gentleman  ?  " 
"  That,"  the  author  responded,  "  was  the  Fenian 


JAMES  STEPHENS  AND  THE  FENIAN  MOVEMENT.      283 

Head  Centre."  "  H'm  !  There  must  certainly  have 
been  something  radically  wrong  when  a  man  like  that 
promoted  insurrection,"  the  Englishman  replied. 

Stephens'  face  was  somewhat  square,  his  beard,  too, 
was  squared,  his  nose  aquiline  but  broad,  and  his  brow 
noble  and  expansive,  the  dignity  of  his  appearance 
being  added  to  by  his  extreme  baldness  and  the  fact 
that  he  wore  his  hair  at  the  back  rather  long  and  curling. 


284  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 
THE  RISING  OF  THE  STH  OF  MARCH,  '67. 

In  America,  meanwhile,  the  Fenians  under  Colonel 
William  R.  Roberts  determined  to  invade  Canada, 
and  Colonel  John  O'Neill  led  one  small  battalion  of 
Irish  veterans  of  the  Civil  War  across  the  border  and 
attacked  Fort  Erie  on  May  3ist,  1866.  He  took  pos- 
session of  the  place,  hauled  down  the  royal  flag  and 
hoisted  the  rebel  one  of  green  and  gold  with  the  crownless 
harp  in  its  stead.  Some  troops  marched  against  O'Neill, 
who  encountered  them  at  a  village  called  Ridgeway, 
and  routed  them.  The  American  government,  how- 
ever, promptly  interfered  and  the  Fenians  were  obliged 
to  submit. 

Stephens,  known  now  as  the  Head  Centre,  announced 
the  outbreak  of  the  revolt  in  Ireland  for  1867,  and  many 
Irish-American  officers  like  Brigadier-General  Thomas 
Francis  Burke,  General  Halpin,  Colonel  Rickard  Burke, 
and  others,  spread  themselves  through  the  country 
in  order  to  command  the  insurgents,  living  in  conceal- 
ment the  while.  Early  in  February,  1867,  one  of  these 
Irish- American  officers,  Captain  John  M'Cafferty,  con- 
conceived  the  idea  of  concentrating  Fenians  from  all 
parts  of  England  upon  Chester  Castle  in  Cheshire,  and 
seizing  20,000  stand  of  arms  stored  there,  then,  impress- 


THE   RISING   OF   THE    5TH   OF   MARCH,    '67.         285 

ing  the  rolling  stock  or  trucks  on  the  railway,  travelling 
swiftly  to  Holyhead,  capturing  the  vessels  at  the  quays 
there,  and,  having  destroyed  the  telegraphic  communi- 
cation with  London  and  Dublin,  crossing  the  Channel 
to  Ireland  and  starting  the  insurrection. 

The  plot  failed  through  an  informer  named  Corydon, 
and  the  2,000  Fenians  who  turned  up  at  Chester,  found 
the  Castle  impregnably  defended  by  a  strong  force  of 
military.  Such  was  the  perfection  of  the  raiders' 
organisation,  however,  that  no  arrests  appear  to  have 
been  made  at  the  time,  and  the  whole  of  the  Fenians 
"  disappeared  as  quietly  and  mysteriously  as  they  came." 
M'Cafferty,  who  had  been  a  captain  in  Morgan's  famous 
guerillas  on  the  Southern  side  in  the  American  civil 
war,  was,  however,  traced  to  Whitehaven  and  arrested 
there  with  a  Fenian  organiser  named  Flood. 

The  promised  "  rising  "  took  place  on  the  5th  March, 
1867,  and,  easily  crushed  though  it  was,  it  surprised 
England  and  the  Executive  by  the  formidable  pro- 
portions it  might  easily  have  assumed.  But  it  failed 
principally  through  lack  of  arms.  Bands  of  men,  under 
various  leaders,  attacked  and  in  many  cases  captured 
police-barracks  and  coastguard  stations,  but  a  heavy 
snowstorm  raged,  accompanied  by  intense  cold,  and  all 
the  mountain  and  country  roads  were  impassable. 
The  Dublin  men,  under  Patrick  Lennon,  a  deserter  from 
the  gth  Lancers,  Patrick  Doran,  and  Denis  Duggan, 
who  had  been  in  the  London  Irish  Volunteers,  surrounded 
the  police-barracks  at  Stepaside,  between  one  and  two 
on  the  Wednesday  morning,  and  summoned  the  inmates 
to  surrender. 

On  their  refusal,  the  assailants  fired  into  the  barracks 


286  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

and  applied  lighted  straw  to  one  of  the  lower  windows, 
whereupon  the  police  surrendered.  They  were  dis- 
armed and  made  prisoners,  and  the  Fenian  band  then 
proceeded  to  Glencullen  and  Milltown  barracks,  which 
they  also  captured.  Lennon,  the  leader  here,  was  to 
command  the  cavalry  in  the  Dublin  district  under 
General  Halpin,  who  was  to  take  supreme  command 
in  Leinster  Halpin,  however,  declined  to  lead  men 
in  so  hopeless  a  struggle,  when  he  saw  how  ill-armed 
and  betrayed  they  were,  and,  after  the  above 
success,  advised  them  to  disperse.  He  himself  was 
arrested. 

Another  band  of  Dublin  men,  a  thousand  strong, 
marched  out  to  Tallaght,  "  unarmed,  except  for  a  few 
pikes,  some  shot  guns  and  an  occasional  revolver." 
They  were  met  by  a  volley  from  a  body  of  police  waiting 
at  the  appointed  rendezvous  and  routed,  a  number  of 
them  being  captured. 

In  Drogheda  some  thousand  Fenians  assembled,  to 
put  themselves  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Leonard. 
The  police  arrived  and  fired  on  them,  when  a  brisk 
fusilade  took  place,  resulting  in  the  killing  and  wounding 
of  several  of  the  rebel  band  and  the  capture  of  more. 
At  Clonmel  300  Fenians  were  attacked  by  the  3ist 
Foot  and  the  Constabulary,  and  put  to  flight  after  a  sur- 
prisingly stubborn  engagement,  in  which  several  rebels 
were  killed,  and  some  eighteen  taken  prisoners,  with 
150  stand  of  arms.  This  band  seems  to  have  been 
fairly  well  armed. 

Two  hundred  armed  Fenians  seized  Kilmallock, 
County  Limerick,  and  blockaded  the  police  barracks. 
More  constabulary  were  hurried  up,  and  in  a  pitched 


THE    RISING    OF    THE    5TH    OF    MARCH,    '67.         287 

battle  three  of  the  Fenians  were  killed  and  a  great  many 
wounded. 

Under  General  Thomas  Francis  Burke,  late  of  the 
American  Confederate  Army,  something  like  2,000 
peasantry  mustered  at  an  old  Danish  fort  in  Tipperary. 
The  spot  was  known  as  Ballyhurst  Fort  and  was  a  tree 
and  ditch-encircled  rath,  a  place  that  with  arms  might 
have  been  a  strong  position.  Burke  and  three  others 
were  mounted.  The  3ist  Regiment  and  a  troop  of 
carbineers  advanced  against  the  fort,  and  from  it  the 
Fenians  fired  on  them.  Burke,  however,  perceiving  the 
strength  of  the  attacking  force,  realised  the  futility  of 
further  resistance,  and,  as  the  military  prepared  to 
charge  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  bade  his  men  scatter 
and  seek  safety  in  flight  and  the  darkness  of  the  night. 
Most  of  them  got  away,  but  Burke  himself  was  taken, 
a  hundred  yards  off,  as  he  was  sliding  from  his  horse 
to  conceal  himself.  Some  sixty  pikes  were  afterwards 
picked  up  in  and  around  the  fort. 

The  coastguard  station  at  Kilrush,  in  Clare,  was  cap- 
tured and  all  the  arms  carried  off,  but  at  Ardagh,  Co. 
L,imerick,  the  assailants  were  repulsed.  At  Middleton 
a  Fenian  band  was  repulsed,  but  captured  a  patrol  of 
four  constables,  and  was  afterwards  defeated  and  dis- 
persed at  Castlemartyr,  the  leader,  Daly,  being  shot 
dead.  The  Fenians  were  likewise  repulsed  in  Waterford, 
but  they  ransacked  the  police  barracks  at  Aherloe, 
and  burnt  those  at  Ardmore,  near  Mallow,  as  also  those 
at  Bottle,  Co.  Cork.  A  cart,  full  of  pikes  and  pistols, 
concealed  under  straw,  was  captured  "  through  infor- 
mation received  "  in  the  streets  of  Dublin  itself,  and 
stores  of  arms  were  seized  in  other  places. 


288  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

"  Captain  Mackey,"  whose  real  name  was  Captain 
William  Francis  Lomasney,  an  Irish-American  officer, 
captured  Ballyknockane  police  barrack.  He  escaped 
at  the  time  and  became  a  sort  of  Rob  Roy  or  Michael 
Dwyer,  for  later,  months  after,  with  a  chosen  band, 
he  seized  the  martello-tower  at  Foaty,  making  prisoners 
of  the  gunners,  and  raided  two  or  more  gunmakers' 
shops,  carrying  off  what  arms  and  ammunition  they 
could. 

Another  Fenian  leader  was  James  Francis  Xavier 
O'Brien,  who  as  a  youth  had  taken  part  in  the  '48 
insurrection.  O'Brien  was  sentenced  to  death  for  his 
share  in  the  Fenian  rising,  but  lived  to  represent  South 
Mayo  in  the  British  Parliament  under  the  leadership 
of  Parnell  and  later  of  Justin  MacCarthy. 

Captain  John  Kirwan,  a  veteran  of  the  Papal  Guard 
in  Italy,  and  a  Knight  of  the  Order  of  St.  Sylvester 
or  the  Golden  Spur,  was  shot  through  the  lungs  and 
taken  prisoner  in  another  affair  outside  Dublin  where  a 
police  barracks  was  captured.  He  escaped,  was  re- 
captured, and  escaped  a  second  time  to  America.  It 
was  after  the  battle  of  Castelfidardo  that  he  was  made 
a  Knight  of  the  Order  of  St.  Sylvester  "  for  having  been 
the  first  to  cross  the  River  Musone  under  a  heavy  artillery 
fire." 

The  sergeant  in  charge  of  Carrick-on-Suir  Fort, 
McCarthy  by  name,  had  become  a  Fenian.  He  con- 
spired to  surrender  the  fort  to  his  confederates,  but 
was  in  his  turn  betrayed  by  a  supposed  friend,  Head- 
Constable  Talbot.  Thomas  Hassett,  a  deserter  from 
the  24th  Foot,  in  which  regiment  he  is  said  to  have  sworn 
in  as  Fenians  no  less  than  270  of  his  comrades,  had 


THE    RISING    OF   THE    5TH    OF    MARCH,    '67.         289 

suggested  that  the  Dublin  men  should  seize  the  Pigeon 
House,  which  contained  25,000  stand  of  arms.  A 
guard  of  90  soldiers  had  been  placed  in  it,  "  and  of  these 
60  were  Fenians."  His  proposal,  however,  was  not  acted 
on.  Sentenced  to  penal  servitude  for  life  later,  he  was 
one  of  six  military  prisoners  rescued  in  1876  by  the 
"  Catalpa,"  as  we  relate  in  its  place. 

The  most  notable  skirmish  of  the  entire  rising,  how- 
ever— the  one  that  caused  the  greatest  sensation  and 
stir  was  that  at  Kilcloney  Wood,  near  Mitchelstown. 

Captain  John  McClure,  Edward  Kelly,  and  Peter 
O'Neill  Crowley,  after  the  capture  of  Knockadoon 
coastguard  station,  fought  the  soldiers  some  time  in  a 
wood.  When  their  ammunition  was  spent,  and  they 
were  crossing  a  river,  Crowley  was  shot  dead.  Captain 
McClure,  who  was  only  21,  and  Kelly  were  captured 
and  sentenced  to  death,  the  punishment  being  after- 
wards commuted  to  imprisonment  for  life.  It  was 
the  death  of  Crowley,  who  was  greatly  esteemed  in  the 
neighbourhood  for  his  hitherto  quiet,  blameless  life, 
that  gave  the  affair  so  much  eclat  in  the  popular  esti- 
mation 

A  General  or  Colonel  Godfrey  Massey  was  to  have 
been  commander-in-chief  in  Munster.  He  was  arrested 
at  limerick  Junction,  proceeding  to  the  rendezvous, 
just  as  he  stepped  from  the  train,  and,  seeing  that  he 
had  been  betrayed,  he  forthwith  turned  round  on  all  his 
associates  and  gave  information  against  them.  The 
great  informer,  though,  was  John  Joseph  Corydon, 
a  Liverpool  man.  It  was  he  revealed  the  Chester  Castle 
plot. 

In  Kerry,  near  Cahirciveen,  a  premature  outbreak 

u 


2QO  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

had  occurred  on  the  I2th  of  February,  a  Colonel 
O'Connor  leading  the  insurgents.  The  date  of  the  rising 
had  originally  been  fixed  for  the  I2tb  of  February, 
and  word  of  its  postponement  had  failed  to  reach 
O'Connor  and  his  band.  On  learning  of  their  mistake 
they  promptly  dissolved,  O'Connor  escaping  capture. 

General  Thomas  Burke,  Patrick  Doran,  and  others 
were  put  upon  their  trial.  Burke,  as  we  have  said, 
had  been  in  the  American  Confederate  or  Southern 
army.  He  had  sustained  a  fractured  leg  in  the  war, 
from  which  he  returned  breveted  Brigadier-General. 
At  his  trial  he  made  a  speech  "  that  was  probably  one 
of  the  most  eloquent  ever  delivered,"  to  quote  a  pro- 
minent detective  who  was  present  in  court.  Burke 
denied  that  Massey,  who  had  turned  approver,  had  ever 
worn  the  star  of  a  colonel  in  the  Confederate  army. 
Only  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  Burke  was  a  splendid- 
looking  man,  and  his  general  appearance,  with  the  pathos 
of  his  injured  limb,  "  made  a  great  impression  on  every- 
one who  saw  and  heard  him."  He  had  a  sternly 
handsome,  manly  face  with  a  full  flowing  brown  beard, 
"  cut  closely  from  the  ear  to  the  point  of  the  jaw,  and 
his  bearing  was  most  soldierly  and  dignified."  He 
had  served  in  the  cavalry  and  "  dragged  the  left  leg 
as  if  accustomed  to  wear  a  sword." 

In  his  speech,  he  said  that  "  he  asked  for  no  mercy, 
that  he  felt  that,  with  his  emaciated  frame  and  some- 
what shattered  constitution,  it  was  better  that  his 
life  should  be  brought  to  an  end  than  that  he  should 
drag  out  a  miserable  existence  in  the  dens  of  Portland." 

"  I  have  ties  to  bind  me  to  life  and  society  as  strong 
as  any  man  in  this  court.  .  .  .  But  I  can  remember 


THE    RISING   OF    THE    5TH    OF    MARCH,    '67.         2QI 

the  blessing  I  received  from  an  aged  mother's  lips 
as  I  left  her  the  last  time.  She,  speaking  as  the  Spartan 
mother  did,  said  '  Go,  my  boy,  return  either  with  your 
shield  or  upon  it.'  This  reconciles  me — this  gives  me 
heart.  I  submit  to  my  doom.  .  .  I  hope  also  that, 
inasmuch  as  God  has  for  700  years  preserved  Ireland, 
notwithstanding  all  the  tyranny  to  which  she  has  been 
subjected,  as  a  separate  and  distinct  nationality,  He 
will  also  assist  her  to  retrieve  her  fallen  fortunes — to 
rise  in  her  beauty  and  majesty  the  Sister  of  Columbia, 
the  peer  of  any  nation  in  the  world." 

He  made  this  thrilling  declamation,  grasping  the  rail 
of  the  dock  with  his  left  hand  and  holding  up  his  head 
proudly,  his  full  rich  beard  sweeping  his  broad  breast, 
his  eyes  all  aglow — a  truly  impressive,  and  as  we  have 
said,  pathetic  figure. 

The  judge  sentenced  him  and  Patrick  Doran  to  be 

t* 

hanged,  drawn  and  quartered.  Burke  "  listened  to  the 
death  sentence  calmly  and  without  emotion  or  bravado." 

Two  days  later,  Mr.  John  Bright,  the  famous  English 
statesman,  presented  a  petition  to  the  House  of  Commons 
protesting  against  the  sentences  of  "  excessive  and 
irritating  severity  "  passed  upon  the  two  Fenians  and 
begging  "  that  the  punishments  might  be  more  appli- 
cable to  men  whose  crime  and  whose  offence  are  alike 
free  from  dishonour,  however  misled  they  may  be." 

Burke  and  Doran  were  not  executed.  Their  sentences 
were  commuted  to  imprisonment,  and  Burke  was 
ultimately  released  at  the  request  of  the  American 
Government. 


2Q2  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
THE  MANCHESTER  RESCUE. 

As  we  have  shown,  many  Fenians  were  in  the  British 
army.  John  Boyle  O'Reilly,  a  most  talented  poet  and 
writer,  and  afterwards  editor  of  the  Boston  "  Pilot," 
enlisted  in  the  loth  Hussars  to  win  over  as  many  of 
his  comrades  as  possible  to  Fenianism.  Out  of  the  100 
Irishmen  in  the  regiment  he  converted  80  to  his  way  of 
thinking,  but  others  "  gave  him  away,"  and  he  and  his 
principal  converts  were  arrested. 

"  Confound  you,  O'Reilly  !  "  shouted  Colonel  Valen- 
tine Baker,  the  commander  of  the  corps,  shaking  his 
fist  in  the  prisoner's  face,  as   he  crossed  the  barrack 
square  under  arrest,  "  you  have  ruined  the  finest  regi 
ment  in  the  service." 

Boyle  O'Reilly,  Colour-Sergeant  MacCarthy,  Corporal 
Chambers  and  others  were  all  transported,  but  O'Reilly 
escaped  later 

On  the  2Oth  of  May,  a  mysterious  brigantine  appeared 
hovering  off  the  coast  of  Sligo,  and  entered  Sligo  Bay. 
She  had  on  board  28  Irish-American  officers,  and  5,000 
stand  of  arms,  three  guns,  and  a  million  and  a  half 
rounds  of  ammunition  for  the  arming  of  the  insurrec- 
tionary forces.  The  brigantine  was  named  originally 
the  "  Jacmel,"  which  name  was  altered  at  sea  to  the 


THE  MANCHESTER  RESCUE.  2Q3 

"  Erin's  Hope."  The  commander  of  the  expedition  was 
Brigadier-General  John  F.  Kavanagh,  who  had  been  a 
member  of  the  American  Congress.  He  produced  and 
distributed  Fenian  commissions  and  sealed  orders, 
hoisted  the  green  flag  with  the  sunburst,  and  fired  the 
three  heavy  guns  they  had  aboard  in  salute  Other 
Irish-American  officers  on  board  were  Colonel  Nagle, 
Colonel  Warren,  Colonel  Kerrigan,  and  lieutenant 
Augustine  Costello. 

The  vessel  had  slipped  out  of  New  York  without 
papers  or  colours  and  without  awakening  suspicion, 
and  safely  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  British  revenue  cutters. 
Sailing  out  again,  near  Dungarvan  she  landed  the  Irish- 
American  officers  and  men,  who  were  however  all  quickly 
laid  by  the  heels  by  the  watchful  authorities. 

As  the  occasion  was  not  deemed  propitious  for  the 
landing  of  the  arms  and  stores,  the  "  Erin's  Hope  " 
sailed  back  to  America  and  escaped  the  cruisers  sent 
to  look  for  her. 

Colonel  Kelly,  who  had  succeeded  Stephens  as  head 
of  the  Fenian  organisation,  and  was  planning  another 
revolt,  was  arrested  with  his  aide-de-camp,  a  Captain 
Deasy,  in  the  early  morning  of  September  nth,  1867, 
at  Manchester,  England.  The  local  Fenians  determined, 
under  the  command  of  Captains  O'Meagher  Condon 
and  Michael  O'Brien,  two  Irish-American  officers,  to 
intercept  the  prison  van  on  its  way  from  the  court  to 
Belle  Vue  Gaol  Escorting  the  van  were  twelve  armed 
policemen,  four  sitting  in  front  with  the  driver,  two  on 
the  steps  behind,  and  four  others  following  in  a  cab, 
while  Sergeant  Brett  rode  inside  the  van. 

Where  the  London  and  North  Western  railway  arch 


2Q4  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

crossed  the  Hyde  Road  obliquely,  two  men,  armed  with 
revolvers,  suddenly  sprang  in  front  of  the  van,  crying 
"  Stop  the  van."  At  the  same  moment  out  from 
behind  the  walls  that  lined  the  road  poured  a  band  of 
about  thirty  or  forty  more,  dressed  like  superior  artisans, 
who  fired  pistol  shots  and  flung  stones  over  the  heads 
of  the  police  escort.  One  of  the  first  two  men  shot  down 
one  of  the  horses  ;  and  on  this  the  whole  of  the  police 
on  the  van  scrambled  or  were  dragged  from  it  and  re- 
treated. 

Half  the  assailants  then  formed  a  wide  circle  round  the 
van  and  held  off  the  police  and  the  crowd  that  began  to 
collect  with  pointed  revolvers  and  occasional  shots  in 
the  air,  while  the  other  half  attacked  the  van  with  all 
manner  of  tools,  trying  to  force  the  door  and  burst  open 
the  sides.  Sergeant  Brett  was  ordered  to  hand  out  the 
keys  or  open  the  door.  He  heroically  refused,  where- 
upon a  shot  was  fired  through  the  lock  with  a  view  to 
bursting  this.  Brett  received  the  bullet  in  the  brain, 
just  over  the  eye,  and  was  killed  instantly  ;  and  then 
a  woman  prisoner  in  the  van  handed  the  keys  out  through 
the  ventilator.  The  top  of  the  van  by  this  had  been 
pounded  to  chips. 

Colonel  Kelly  and  Captain  Deasy  were  hurried  away 
by  some  of  their  rescuers,  while  the  main  body  covered 
their  retreat.  Neither  was  recaptured.  They  were 
hidden  in  Manchester  for  some  months  after.  Kelly 
eventually  reached  Liverpool,  and  was  smuggled  aboard 
one  of  the  old  National  Line  of  steamers  by  an  Irish 
foreman  ship's  carpenter,  named  James  Egan.  The 
National  liners  sailed  from  the  Wellington  dock.  Egan 
built  the  Fenian  chief  up  in  a  secret  compartment 


THE  MANCHESTER  RESCUE.  2Q5 

in  the  bunkers  or  bulk  heading,  where  he  was  kept 
supplied  with  food  by  a  friend  aboard  until  the  steamer 
was  well  at  sea.  A  ticket  had  been  obtained  for  him, 
and  so  he  freely  mingled  then  with  the  other  passengers. 

Egan,  by  the  way,  was  very  proud  of  two  duelling 
pistol?  he  possessed,  and  which  had  formerly  belonged 
to  the  well-known  O'Connellite  duellist,  "  Fireball 
MacNamara."  The  author,  then  a  small  boy  at  school, 
met  Egan  in  the  'eighties,  and  remembers  him  as  a  very 
erect,  well  set-up  old  man,  with  thick  snow-white 
hair. 

A  great  number  of  suspects  were  subsequently 
arrested  in  Manchester  for  the  van  rescue,  and  five  men, 
Captain  Michael  O'Brien,  the  Irish-American  officer, 
who  gave  his  name  as  William  Gould  at  first ;  an  artisan 
named  Michael  I/arkin  ;  a  Royal  Marine,  by  name 
Thomas  Maguire  ;  a  young  carpenter  named  William 
Philip  Allen  ;  and  Captain  O'Meagher  Condon,  who  gave 
the  name  of  Edward  Shore  when  arrested,  were  found 
guilty  of  Sergeant  Brett's  death,  and  sentenced  to  capital 
punishment.  Seven  others  were  condemned  to  five 
years'  penal  servitude.  Fourteen  more  who  had  been 
arrested  were  discharged. 

The  death  of  Brett  was  clearly  a  case  of  manslaughter, 
and  many  prominent  Englishmen  interested  themselves 
to  try  and  obtain  a  reprieve  for  all  five  doomed  men, 
while  great  was  the  indignation  expressed  at  their  being 
handcuffed  in  the  dock  before  they  had  been  found 
guilty,  a  thing  practically  unknown  in  a  British  criminal 
court. 

As  at  Mitchel's  trial  in  '48,  a  most  dramatic  incident 
occurred  when  the  five  men  were  asked  why  sentence 


296  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

of  death  should  not  be  passed  upon  them,  after  the 
verdict  of  guilty.  Captain  O'Meagher  Condon,  in 
addressing  the  court,  said  : 

"  We  are  not  afraid  to  die — at  least  I  am  not." 

"  Nor  I !  "  "  Nor  1 1  "  "  Nor  I  !  "  promptly  and 
proudly  cried  his  companions,  and  Condon,  continuing, 
exclaimed  :  "I  have  nothing  to  regret  or  to  retract, 
or  take  back.  I  can  only  say  GOD  SAVE  IRELAND  !" 

His  companions  took  up  the  cry.  "  God  Save  Ire- 
land !"  they  all  repeated  proudly,  raising  their  manacled 
hands  aloft,  and,  as  they  passed  from  the  dock,  they 
again  shouted  "  God  Save  Ireland  !" — a  cry  that  has 
become  a  watchword  since  with  many  Irishmen. 

Condon's  sentence  was  commuted,  and  Maguire  was 
released,  but  Allen,  Larkin,  and  O'Brien  were  hanged, 
and  are  always  referred  to  to-day  as  "  the  Manchester 
Martyrs." 

Up  to  the  last  it  was  firmly  believed  that  the  death 
sentence  would  not  be  carried  out  in  their  case  even. 
The  evidence  was  clearly  most  untrustworthy.  In  the 
first  place  Thomas  Maguire,  who  was  shown  to  have  not 
been  near  the  scene  of  the  rescue,  nor  ever  to  have  had 
anything  to  do  with  Fenianism,  had  been  found  guilty 
of  murder,  along  with  Allen,  Larkin,  O'Brien  and  Con- 
don. So  evident  was  it  that  perjury  was  committed 
by  some  of  the  witnesses  against  him,  that  thirty  news- 
paper men  sent  up  a  petition  to  the  Home  Secretary 
the  same  evening  as  he  was  sentenced,  protesting  their 
belief  that  he  was  innocent.  He  was  pardoned — for 
what  he  had  not  done.  And  it  is  alleged  that  O'Meagher 
Condon  was  only  reprieved  because  of  his  being  an 
American  citizen.  Condon  certainly  took  part  in 


THE  MANCHESTER  RESCUE.  297 

the  rescue,  and  is  supposed  to  have  driven  from  the 
court  in  a  cab  preceding  the  prison  van,  to  notify  the 
assailants  of  its  approach.  "It  is  rumoured  in  well- 
informed  quarters,"  the  newspapers  of  the  time  reported, 
"  that  the  clemency  of  the  crown  will  be  extended  to 
L,arkin,  Gould  (O'Brien)  and  Shore  (Condon),  their 
sentences  being  commuted  to  penal  servitude  for  life." 

From  this,  and  the  evidence,  it  would  seem  that  it 
was  Allen  who  fired  the  fatal  shot,  and  he  apparently 
had  a  pistol  on  that  day. 

But  the  popular  clamour  in  England  for  vengeance 
upon  the  Fenians  was  too  great  for  the  weak-kneed 
authorities,  and  accordingly  Allen,  I^arkin  and  O'Brien 
suffered.  To  show,  however,  that  all  the  English  people 
did  not  think  these  three  men  guilty  of  murder,  the 
Dowager  Marchioness  of  Queensberry  sent  them  a  most 
touching  letter  of  condolence  and  hope  in  the  hereafter, 
asking  for  the  addresses  of  their  families  and  enclosing 
£100,  "  with  the  assurance  that,  so  long  as  she  lived,  they 
should  be  cared  for  to  the  utmost  of  her  power."  Larkin, 
the  only  one  of  the  three  married,  "  burst  into  tears  ; 
the  other  prisoners  were  also  deeply  affected  "  by  this 
letter. 

As  they  stood  on  the  scaffold  O'Brien  kissed  his  com- 
panions and  whispered  in  their  ears  words,  no  doubt, 
of  encouragement  and  hope  beyond  the  grave. 

The  three  executions  took  place  on  the  morning  of 
Saturday,  November  23rd,  1867,  before  an  exulting 
rabble — executions  were  public  then — and  the  news  fell 
upon  Ireland  "  with  sudden  and  dismal  disillusion." 
Public  feeling  manifested  itself  in  Requiem  Masses  in 
the  Catholic  Churches  all  over  the  country,  and  funeral 


298  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

processions  at  which  thousands  attended.  The  funeral 
procession  in  Cork  was  most  imposing,  while  in  Dublin 
not  less  than  60,000  persons  marched,  through  rain  and 
mud,  behind  three  huge,  black-draped,  empty  hearses, 
bearing  in  large  white  letters  on  the  side  of  each  the 
name  of  one  of  the  executed  men.  Mr.  A.  M.  Sullivan 
and  John  Martin  were  afterwards  prosecuted  for  a  vio- 
lation of  the  "  Party  Procession  Act,"  and  Mr.  Sullivan, 
who,  in  the  dock,  delivered  a  most  eloquent  and  tren- 
chant denunciation  of  the  Manchester  trial  and  exe- 
cutions received  six  months'  imprisonment.  His  brother, 
T.  D.  Sullivan's  well-known  song  "  God  Save  Ireland  " 
is  a  lasting  epitaph  for  the  three  Manchester  Martyrs, 
and  has  become  the  National  anthem. 

Some  desperate  and  reckless  spirits  next  attempted 
to  blow  in  the  wall  of  Clerkenwell  Gaol,  London,  with 
a  keg  of  gunpowder,  on  December  I3th,  1867,  hoping 
to  thus  effect  the  escape  of  Colonel  Rickard  Burke,  Casey, 
and  other  Fenian  prisoners.  It  was  the  maddest  of 
schemes,  and  the  explosion  caused  the  deaths  of  several 
innocent  poor  people  in  the  adjacent  streets  and  terribly 
injured  a  great  many  more.  A  man  named  Michael 
Barrett,  known  as  the  "  handsome  Irishman,"  was 
hanged  for  this  insane  act ;  and  after  that  Fenianism 
subsided,  its  last  memorable  exploit  being  the  rescue 
in  1876,  of  six  military  Fenian  prisoners  from  the  convict 
settlement  of  Freemantle,  Australia,  by  the  whaling 
barque  "  Catalpa,"  fitted  out  in  America  for  the  pur- 
pose. The  escape  was  engineered  by  the  two  men  who 
were  mainly  responsible  for  that  of  Stephens  from 
Richmond  Gaol,  namely,  John  Breslin  and  John  Devoy. 
An  armed  steamer,  the  "  Georgette,"  pursued  the 


THE  MANCHESTER  RESCUE. 

"  Catalpa,"  but  the  latter's  captain,  being  on  the  high 
seas,  refused  to  stop  and  defied  the  pursuers,  who  did 
not  care  about  risking  international  complications  by 
firing  on  the  American  flag  which  he  was  flying,  and  so 
let  him  and  the  Fenian  refugees  go. 


PART  X. 
HOME   RUI.E. 

Shall  mine  eyes  behold  thy  glory,  O  my  country  ? 

Shall  mine  eyes  behold  thy  glory  ? 
Or  shall   the   darkness   close   around  them,   ere 

The  sun-blaze  beat  at  last  upon  thy  story  ? 

When  the  nations  ope  for  thee  their  queenly  circle, 

As  a  sweet  new  sister  hail  thee, 
Shall  these  lips  be  sealed  in  callous  death  and  silence, 

That  have  known  but  to  bewail  thee  ? 

From  "  After  Death,"  by  FANNY 


THE   HOME    RULE    AGITATION.  303 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

THE    HOME    RULE    AGITATION. — THE    PHCENIX    PARK 

TRAGEDY. 

The  Fenian  Movement  is  said  to  have  brought 
Mr.  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  the  great  English  states- 
man, to  see  some  of  the  iniquities  under  which  Ireland 
laboured — to  have  indeed  converted  him  to  a  new  way 
of  thinking  as  regarded  this  country.  Certain  it  is  that 
as  soon  as  he  was  placed  in  power  after  the  Genera) 
Election  of  1868,  he  brought  forward  a  Bill  for  the 
Disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church,  "  that  great 
scandal  and  iniquity "  as  the  noble-hearted  English 
reformer,  John  Stuart  Mill,  called  it. 

In  March,  1869,  Gladstone  introduced  his  Bill,  speak- 
ing for  three  hours  upon  it.  The  Irish  State  Church 
was  a  gross  anomaly  as  well  as  outrageous  piece  of 
injustice,  come  down  from  the  Penal  Days.  "  Taking 
only  the  Episcopalian  Protestants  (who  alone  wanted 
it),  the  Catholics  outnumbered  them  by  seven  to  one." 
Yet  the  seven  had  to  pay  for  the  upkeep  of  the  church, 
bishops  and  all,  for  that  one.  "  In  Munster  the  State 
Church  counted  only  one  in  twenty  ;  in  Connaught 
one  in  25,  in  Ulster  not  more  than  one  in  5.  A  large 
number  of  parishes  had  not  a  single  Protestant,  and 
even  from  these  an  absentee  minister  drew  a  substantial 


304  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

salary."  (D' Alton.)  In  some  fine  handsome  churches 
not  half  a  dozen  persons  ever  met,  while  the  great 
mass  of  the  people  round  attended  the  poor  little  Catholic 
chapel. 

No  one  could  justify  such  "  intolerable  robbery," 
as  another  outspoken  Englishman  called  it.  But  the 
Tory  and  Church  party  raised  a  howl  of  "  spoliation  and 
sacrilege  and  confiscation,"  and  the  writer  remembers 
seeing  a  cartoon  depicting  Gladstone,  John  Bright, 
and  others  of  these  fair-minded  Englishmen  who 
sought  to  uproot  such  a  foul  Upas-tree,  as  Cromwellian 
soldiers  revelling  in  a  Church  and  stabling  their  horses 
also  in  the  sacred  fane. 

But  the  Bill  passed,  although  the  lyords  tried  to 
mangle  it.  Their  amendments  were  rejected,  and 
Queen  Victoria's  intervention,  along  with  other  causes, 
enabled  Gladstone,  John  Bright,  and  the  rest  of  the 
Government  to  carry  the  day.  The  Bill  was  passed, 
received  the  Royal  assent,  and  on  January  ist,  1871, 
something  over  a  year  later,  the  Irish  State  Church 
ceased  to  be,  to  the  great  joy  of  all  true-minded  Irish- 
men, and  its  bishops  could  no  longer  sit  in  the  House  of 
Lords.  Church  property,  etc.,  was  calculated  as  worth 
nearly  £16,000,000,  and  it  received  nearly  eleven 
million  in  payment,  to  satisfy  vested  interests,  com- 
pensations to  clergymen,  etc.  The  surplus  five  million 
was  set  aside  for  purposes  of  public  utility  in  the  country 
it  had  so  long  and  shamelessly  plundered. 

Most  Irishmen  were  now  again  desirous,  if  they  had 
not  always  been,  of  trying  the  effect  of  moral  force, 
of  trying  to  obtain  their  aims  by  constitutional 
methods  such  as  O'Connell  had  sanctioned  and  practi- 


C.  S.   Parnell  Daniel  O'Connell          John  Redmond 


THE    HOME   RUIvE   AGITATION.  305 

cally  inaugurated,  after,  perhaps,  Grattan  and  Flood. 
Such  men  as  A.  M.  Sullivan  had  all  along  been  on  the 
side  of  such  peaceful  measures  and  opposed  to  the  vio- 
lent ones  of  the  Fenians,  and  the  fairmindedness  of  the 
English  Government  and  great  Liberal  party  upon  the 
Irish  State  Church  question  augured  well  now  for  the 
success  of  this  milder  policy. 

In  1870,  Gladstone  tackled  the  land  question,  and 
passed  a  Land  Act — the  first  we  notice  of  so  very,  very 
many.  It  legalised  a  custom  called  "  tenant  right," 
hitherto  only  appertaining  in  Ulster,  "  established  a 
system  analogous  to  it  in  the  other  provinces."  This 
"  tenant  right  "  was,  that  so  long  as  a  farmer  paid  his 
rent  he  should  be  undisturbed  in  his  holding  and  be 
at  liberty  to  sell  the  "  goodwill  "  of  his  farm  to  a  pur- 
chaser, and  demand  compensation  from  his  landlord,  on 
surrendering  his  holding,  for  unexhausted  improvements. 
It  was  a  kind  of  "  peasant  proprietary,"  such  as  John 
Stuart  Mill  and  John  Bright,  and  other  great  souls 
advocated.  But  the  landlords  in  many  cases  contrived 
to  evade  the  provisions  of  the  Act ;  and  so  it  was  in 
great  measure  a  failure.  Successive  bad  harvests  also 
prevented  the  tenants  being  able  to  pay  the  rack-rents 
demanded,  and  no  less  than  10,000  evictions  took  place 
during  the  next  five  years  ! 

On  this  an  agitation  arose  again  for  the  repeal  of  the 
Union,  as  the  source  of  all  the  trouble,  and  to  this  end 
a  Mr.  Isaac  Butt  and  a  Mr.  John  Barry  started  what 
they  called  the  "  Home  Rule  Confederation,  or  League," 
of  Great  Britain. 

The  Home  Rule  agitation  differed  somewhat  from  the 
Repeal  agitation.  Whereas  "  a  mere  repeal  of  the  Union 

x 


306  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

would  leave  the  Irish  Parliament  free  to  meddle  with 
Imperial  matters — Grattan's  Parliament  had  the  right 
to  grant  or  withhold  supplies  for  Imperial  purposes — 
but  would  yet  allow  the  English  Cabinet  to  appoint 
the  Irish  Executive,  the  new  scheme  would  have 
purely  Irish  affairs  managed  by  an  Irish  Parliament 
and  Imperial  matters  by  the  British  assembly." 
(O'Sullivan's  "Brief  Survey  of  Irish  History.")  Strange 
to  say,  Isaac  Butt  had  been  opposed  to  O'Connell,  and 
a  Conservative  in  his  early  life.*  He  now  proved  him- 
self an  able  leader,  and  the  new  movement  carried  the 
country  by  storm,  although  it  met  with  considerable 
opposition  in  England. 

Before  long,  Mr.  Joseph  Biggar,  M.P.,  initiated  the 
policy  of  "  Obstruction  "  with  a  view  to  forcing  English 
politicians  not  to  lightly  reject  Irish  measures  or  flout 
the  opinions  of  the  Irish  people.  Charles  Stewart  Parnell, 
one  of  the  youngest  Irish  members,  supported  Biggar 
in  the  new  policy  ;  but  for  a  time  they  stood  almost 
alone  even  amongst  their  own  party  in  support  of  it. 
Mr.  Butt  disapproved  of  this  new  or  "  active  "  policy, 
as  Biggar  and  Parnell  themselves  called  it,  but  after  the 
close  of  the  Parliamentary  session  in  1877,  a  great 
meeting  was  held  in  the  Rotunda,  Dublin,  in  support 
of  Mr.  Biggar  and  Mr.  Parnell,  and  their  policy  of  per- 
sistent and  merciless  "  obstruction." 

In  the  words  of  A.  M.  Sullivan,  this  policy  was 
briefly,  "  If  nothing  was  to  be  done  for  Ireland,  then  no 
business  whatever  was  to  be  done,  or  at  least,  no  English 

*  O'Connell  had  prophesied  that  before  long  he  would  be  on  his 
side.  He  afterwards  acted  as  advocate  for  many  of  the  Fenians  on 
their  trials,  and  he  defended  Gavan  Duffy  in  1848. 


THE   HOME    RULE   AGITATION  307 

reform  was  to  be  permitted  to  pass  without  endless 
difficulty."  This  was  carrying  the  war  into  the  enemy's 
camp  with  a  vengeance.  Englishmen  did  not  want  to 
be  troubled  about  Ireland  ;  they  had  something  else  to 
think  of — their  own  affairs.  "  Quite  so,"  practically 
said  Mr.  Biggar  and  Parnell,  "  then  give  us  Home  Rule 
and  we'll  leave  you  in  peace.  Refuse  it  to  us,  and,  by 
our  using  the  procedure  of  the  House,  we  will  prevent 
you  doing  anything  for  your  own  country,  doing  any 
business  at  all,  we  will  reduce  things  in  this  House  to  a 
state  of  chaos  and  absolute  nullity." 

Parnell  showed  himself  a  past-master  in  the  art, 
going  about  it  with  a  deadly  intensity,  yet  "  in  the 
calmest  possible  way."  Biggar  was  more  ostentatious 
and  "  was  certainly  the  best-hated  Irishman  in  England 
at  that  time."  Most  of  the  Irish  Parliamentary  party 
were  gradually  won  over  by  the  two  obstructionists  ; 
the  country  went  over  to  them  wholeheartedly  ;  and, 
in  the  same  year,  1877,  Butt,  who  had  hitherto  been 
elected  as  the  annual  President  of  the  Home  Rule 
Confederation  of  Great  Britain,  was  dethroned  at  a 
meeting  at  Liverpool  and  Parnell  took  his  place.  Mr. 
Butt  "  still  clung  to  the  old  methods,  and  at  a  conference 
of  Irish  members  in  the  City  Hall,  Dublin,  he  violently 
assailed  Obstruction  as  ruinous  to  Irish  interests." 

In  the  following  year,  "  he  asked  in  indignation 
how  any  right-minded  man  could  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  the  Queen  and  then  use  his  power  as  a  member 
of  Parliament  to  thwart  and  baffle  all  her  measures." 
This  gratified  English  public  opinion,  but  it  estranged 
many  of  his  own  party,  and,  seeing  that  Parnell  had  the 
mass  of  the  Irish  people  with  him,  he  wished  to  resign. 


308  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

He  was  persuaded  to  remain,  but  in  May  of  the  next 
year  he  fell  ill  and  died,  many  thought  of  disappoint- 
ment. 

Parnell  was  now  the  leading  figure  in  Irish  Parlia- 
mentary affairs.  He  was  a  young  Protestant  country 
gentleman  of  Avondale,  County  Wicklow,  and  was 
a  descendant  of  the  Hon.  Sir  John  Parnell,  who  was 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  in  Grattan's  Parliament. 
Sir  John  refused  to  support  the  Union,  and  was  in- 
corruptible, as  Sir  Jonah  Barrington  records.  He  and 
his  son  Henry  stood  by  Grattan  to  the  last.  Charles 
Stewart  Parnell  was  born  at  the  ancestral  mansion  of 
Avondale  in  1846,  and  so  was  32  years  of  age  at  this 
time.  He  inherited  from  his  mother,  a  daughter  of 
Commodore  Stewart  of  the  American  Navy,  a  bitter 
hatred  of  England,  yet  he  was  cold  and  unemotional, 
without  any  of  the  wit  or  fire  or  enthusiasm  of  the  aver- 
age Irishman. 

To  give  an  idea  of  how  lacking  in  humour  he  was, 
he  could  not  for  the  life  of  him  understand  why  a  crowd 
that  he  was  addressing  once,  in  favour  of  a  candidate  at 
an  election  named  Kettle,  laughed  heartily  when  he 
chanced  to  say  that  "  Mr.  Kettle's  name  was  a  household 
word  in  Ireland." 

He  was  no  orator  either,  but — he  was  a  born  leader 
of  men  and  preferred  to  say  what  he  had  got  to  say  in  as 
few  words  as  possible.  Elected  in  1875  for  Meath,  he 
had  sat  for  that  and  the  following  session  silent  and 
watchful,  hardly  opening  his  mouth.  He  was  learning 
the  rules  of  the  House  !  He  was  heard  of  pretty  much 
the  next  year.  A  man  of  iron  resolution,  like  Dickens's 
character  in  "  Hard  Times,"  all  he  asked  for  was  "  facts, 


THE   HOME   RULE   AGITATION.  309 

hard  facts."  He  had  a  tall,  commanding  presence, 
and  a  strong,  handsome,  bearded  face  ;  the  brow  was 
broad  and  high,  the  nose  a  firm  aquiline  ;  the  jaw  bold 
and  determined  ;  the  eyes  fearless,  challenging,  inscrut- 
able ;  the  eyebrows  thick,  and  very  slightly  arched. 

Mr.  William  Shaw  had  succeeded  Butt  as  Home  Rule 
leader,  but  he  had  not  the  majority  of  the  Party  with 
him.  It  had  now  gone  over  to  Parnell,  and  Shaw  was 
deposed.  Parnell  who,  with  Mr.  John  Dillon,  had  been 
to  America  and  received  a  tremendous  ovation  every- 
where there,  led  his  followers  across  the  floor  of  the 
House  to  the  Tory  ranks.  Mr.  Shaw's  supporters,  on 
the  other  hand,  who  were  known  as  "  Nominal  Home 
Rulers,"  remained  on  the  Whig  or  liberal  side,  but 
soon  after  they  disappeared  altogether  from  the 
scene  of  action. 

Mr.  Parnell  counted  now  among  his  followers  many 
whose  names  have  since  become  as  famous  as  his  own, 
John  Dillon,  already  mentioned,  Joseph  Biggar,  Justin 
McCarthy,  T.  P.  O'Connor,  T.  D.  Sullivan  (the  famous 
Alexander  M.  Sullivan's  poetic  brother),  and  Thomas 
Sexton.  Michael  Davitt,  the  son  of  an  evicted  Mayo 
peasant,  came  to  the  front  also  now.  He  had  been 
imprisoned  for  his  share  in  the  Fenian  movement. 
Though  he  had  lost  his  right  arm  in  a  mill  in  Lancashire, 
where  he  had  worked  as  a  boy,  he  took  part  in  the 
attempted  raid  on  Chester  Castle  and  had  gone  about 
the  country  afterwards  buying  arms  for  the  Fenians. 
He  now  founded  the  "  Land  League,"  an  organisation 
for  "  the  abolition  of  the  existing  landlord  system  and 
the  introduction  of  peasant  proprietorship."  Parnell 
took  up  the  idea  and  the  Irish  National  Land  League 


3IO  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

"  became  the  most  powerful  political  organisation  that 
had  been  formed  in  Ireland  since  the  Union."  (Justin 
H.  McCarthy.) 

All  rackrenters  and  evictors  were  "  boycotted,"  a 
word  adopted  in  lieu  of  "  ostracised,"  which  it  means, 
from  Captain  Boycott,  a  landlord's  agent,  the  first 
victim  of  the  system.  The  "  landgrabber  "  was  tabooed 
in  a  word,  by  all  his  neighbours.  Shopkeepers  and 
tradesmen  refused  to  serve  him  or  deal  with  him, 
labourers  to  work  for  him.  So  disturbed  did  the 
country  now  become  that  the  Government  brought 
in  a  Coercion  Act,  and  Michael  Davitt  and  John  Dillon 
were  arrested. 

In  the  preceding  November,  Mr.  Parnell,  Mr.  John 
Dillon,  Mr.  Biggar,  Mr.  T.  D.  Sullivan  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Sexton  were  summoned  with  others  to  appear  before  the 
Court  of  Queen's  Bench,  to  answer  allegations  of  con- 
spiracy, made  at  the  instance  of  the  Attorney-General, 
relative  to  the  dreadful  agrarian  outrages  that  were 
occurring  all  over  Ireland.  Lord  Leitrim,  who  seems 
to  have  borne  a  rather  unenviable  reputation  and  whose 
moral  character  was  apparently  not  above  reproach, 
had  been  murdered,  it  is  supposed  as  an  act  of  private, 
rather  than  agrarian,  vengeance.  His  murderer  was 
never  traced.  A  Mr.  Boyd  and  Lord  Mountmorres 
were  also  murdered,  shot  to  death  by  masked  moon- 
lighters. Galway  was  "  proclaimed,"  "  and  Mr.  Parnell 
retorted  with  one  of  the  most  defiant  and  provocative 
speeches  he  ever  made."  At  a  meeting  in  Galway 
after  the  "  proclamation,"  he  gave  the  Chief  Secretary, 
Mr.  W.  E.  Forster,  for  advocating  the  use  of  buckshot 
by  the  police  against  unlawful  assemblies,  the  name  of 


THE  HOME   RUI,E   AGITATION.  311 

"  Buckshot  Forster/'  a  sobriquet  that  stuck  to  that 
gentleman  until  his  death. 

Certain  other  more  conciliatory  measures  passed 
in  1881,  and  the  retirement  in  1882  of  Mr.  Forster,  who 
was  most  unpopular  with  the  Land  League  party, 
seemed  about  to  bring  peace  to  the  nation  which  had 
been  in  a  most  distracted  state,  when,  on  May  6th,  1882, 
occurred  a  crime  that  shocked  everybody  and  gave  the 
enemies  of  the  Irish  people  an  excuse  for  further  abuse 
and  arguments  against  any  attempt  at  ameliorating 
their  lot. 

The  new  Chief  Secretary,  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish, 
"  who  was  expected  to  carry  out  the  most  benevolent 
of  policies,"  had  only  just  arrived  in  Dublin  from 
England.  He  was  met  by  Mr.  T.  H.  Burke,  the  Under- 
secretary, and  the  two  were  walking  in  broad  daylight 
through  the  Phoenix  Park  towards  the  Viceregal  Lodge, 
when  they  were  suddenly  set  upon  by  a  gang  of  assassins, 
members  of  an  extremist  secret  society  called  the 
"  Invincibles."  Mr.  Forster's  life  had  been  constantly 
threatened,  and  Mr.  Burke  also  had  been  marked  out 
as  a  victim. 

Mr.  Burke  was  fatally  stabbed  by  the  murderers, 
and  Lord  Frederick,  gallantly  turning  on  the  assailants 
with  his  umbrella,  was  likewise  stabbed  to  death,  the 
gang  then  making  their  escape  on  a  jaunting-car  waiting 
close  by.  The  dreadful  tragedy  was  actually  seen 
by  Earl  Spencer,  the  Viceroy,  from  the  windows  of  the 
Viceregal  Lodge,  but  it  was  believed  to  be  only  some  men 
indulging  in  horse-play. 

It  caused  a  tremendous  outcry,  naturally,  but  Mr. 
Parnell's  public  expression  of  abhorrence  of  the  deed 


312  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

was  received  with  contempt  by  certain  of  the  English 
people  who  did  not  hesitate  to  hint  that  he  was  privy 
to  it,  or  at  least  had  incited  it.  "A  savage  cry  for 
revenge  went  up  from  the  whole  British  Empire  and 
reprisals  were  immediately  entered  on,"  according  to 
"  The  Story  of  Ireland  "  (brought  up  to  recent  times). 
A  stringent  "  Coercion  Act  "  was  passed  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  country  was  practically  "  dragooned." 

"  The  Invincibles,"  as  it  was  subsequently  discovered, 
were  only  two  dozen  extremists  who  thought,  like  the 
Nihilists  of  Russia,  to  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of 
English  politicians  by  the  assassination  of  prominent 
public  men.  In  due  course  they  were  all  brought  to 
book,  and  five  of  them  were  hanged,  while  more  were 
condemned  to  various  terms  of  imprisonment.  They 
were  convicted  mainly  on  the  testimony  of  one  James 
Carey,  who  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  one  of  the  worst 
of  the  gang,  indeed,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  its 
leading  spirit,  and  had  indicated  Mr.  Burke  to  Brady, 
one  of  the  murderers. 

Carey  was  sent  secretly  to  Cape  Colony  afterwards, 
but  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  going  ashore  at  Port 
Elizabeth,  he  was  shot  dead  by  an  Irishman  named 
Patrick  O'Donnell,  in  reward  for  his  treachery. 

An  extremist  section  of  Irish-Americans  also  consi- 
dered that  terrorism  was  the  best  way  of  converting  the 
English  people,  and  sent  agents  over  to  England  to 
blow  up  public  buildings,  etc.,  with  dynamite.  Rightly 
or  wrongly,  Jeremiah  O'Donovan  Rossa,  one  of  Stephen's 
first  lieutenants,  and  who  had  suffered  severe  imprison- 
ment for  his  share  in  the  Fenian  conspiracy,  was  accused 
of  fostering  this  violent  policy  in  the  States.  Certain 


THE    HOME   RUI^E   AGITATION.  313 

it  is  that  a  few,  but  by  no  means  anything  like  the  great 
bulk,  of  the  old  Fenians  were  at  the  bottom  of  it.  Their 
idea  was  to  carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country, 
into  England  itself,  and  there  prosecute  it  with  every 
engine  or  weapon  of  destruction  that  the  advance  of 
science  put  at  their  disposal.  It  is  plain  though  that 
they  sought  to  avoid  the  loss  of  human  life. 

In  March,  1883,  the  first  of  the  explosions  occurred 
at  the  Local  Government  Board  Offices,  Westminster, 
when  the  damage  done  to  property  was  considerable, 
but  no  lives  were  lost.  Then  several  explosions  oc- 
curred on  the  Metropolitan  and  District  railway.  In 
1884,  infernal  machines  were  found  at  several  railway 
stations,  and  an  explosion  occurred  at  the  Detective 
Office  at  Old  Scotland  Yard,  when  some  twenty  people 
were  injured.  Then  the  southern  end  of  London  Bridge 
was  partially  destroyed  by  an  explosion,  and,  as  regards 
this  one,  it  is  supposed  that  "  Captain  Mackey,"  the 
Rob  Roy  of  the  Fenian  Rising,  and  two  others  who  caused 
it,  were  blown  to  atoms,  with  the  boat  in  which  they 
were  under  the  bridge.  At  the  House  of  Commons  the 
following  year  there  were  three  explosions,  and  two 
constables  were  severely  injured  and  had  to  be  invalided. 
Some  of  these  outrages  were  never  brought  home  to  any- 
one, but  several  men  were  arrested  in  various  parts  of 
the  country  and  sentenced  to  varying  terms  of  imprison- 
ment. 

This  most  reprehensible  violence  on  the  part  of  certain 
Irishmen  greatly  hampered  the  progress  of  Mr.  Parnell 
and  the  Irish  Parliamentary  party. 


314  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 
PARNEU/S  DRAMATIC  TRIUMPH  AND  FALI, 

The  great  Liberal  party  of  England  now  changed  its 
policy  towards  Ireland.  Mr.  Gladstone,  its  renowned 
leader,  dropped  Coercion  and  introduced  a  HOME 
RULE  BILL — "  to  make  better  provision  for  the  future 
government  of  Ireland  " — on  the  8th  of  April,  1886. 
The  House  was  crammed. 

"  Hurrah  for  the  brave  old  Irish  race, 
That  fire  or  sword  could  not  efface  ; 
That  lives  and  thrives  and  grows  apace, 

However  its  foes  assail  it ! 
That  point  by  point,  and  day  by  day, 
Wins  back  its  rights,  and  works  its  way, 
And  BURSTS  ITS  BONDS  ! — Hurray  !    Hurray  ! 

With  a  hundred  cheers  we'll  hail  it. 

Previous  to  the  introduction  of  this  Bill,  Mr.  Parnell 
and  the  other  Irish  Members  of  Parliament  were  con- 
tinually being  arrested,  and  lodged  in  Kilmainham 
Gaol.  From  there,  in  1882,  they  issued  a  famous 
"  No  Rent  Manifesto,"  advising  the  tenant-farmers 
of  Ireland  "  to  pay  no  rent  to  the  landlords  until  the 
Government  relinquished  their  system  of  terrorism 
and  restored  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  people." 
It  was  a  matter  of  surprise  for  long  how  this  "  No  Rent 


PARNEU/S   DRAMATIC   TRIUMPH   AND   FAU,.         315 

Manifesto "  got  out  of  the  gaol.  The  bishops  and 
priests,  however,  disapproved  of  the  manifesto. 

The  Land  League  was  suppressed,  when  a  Ladies' 
Land  League  was  formed  by  Miss  Fanny  Parnell, 
Parnell's  sister,  and  as  Parnell  had  predicted,  his 
place  was  taken  by  ''  Captain  Moonlight."  Landlords, 
their  agents,  and  others  were  shot  at  in  various  places. 

The  newspaper  United  Ireland,  edited  by  Mr. 
William  O'Brien,  was  "  proclaimed  "  treasonable,  and 
suppressed  in  Dublin,  when  its  publishers  transferred 
it  to  England  and  continued  to  produce  it  in  Liverpool, 
"  until  it  was  again  stopped  and  confiscated." 

But  now  the  awful  outrages  that  had  so  lately  dis- 
graced the  country  were  no  more.  All  Ireland  seemed 
willing  to  accept  the  hand  of  friendship,  now  at  last  held 
out  by  the  English  democracy  in  the  person  of  William 
Ewart  Gladstone.  That  great  statesman's  Home  Rule 
Bill  proposed  to  establish  a  separate  'Parliament  for 
Ireland  with  limited  powers. 

Briefly,  it  proposed  to  establish  a  legislative  body 
sitting  in  Dublin,  consisting  of  two  orders,  the  Upper  of 
28  representative  peers  and  75  members  elected  for  ten 
years,  and  the  Lower  of  the  present  103  Irish  members, 
with  an  additional  101,  making  therefore  204  members, 
elected  for  five  years.  There  was  to  be  a  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant as  hitherto,  but  he  was  to  be  independent  of 
Great  Britain  and  only  responsible  to  the  Crown,  and 
his  executive  or  privy  council  were  to  be  equally  inde- 
pendent. The  new  body  was  to  be  empowered  to  enact 
laws  and  to  impose  and  collect  taxes,  except  the  customs, 
but  not  to  interfere  with  the  army  or  navy  or  foreign 
and  colonial  affairs,  nor  was  it  to  have  the  power  of 


3l6  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

enacting  any  religious  endowment.  All  the  then  existing 
legal  and  police  arrangements  were  to  remain  temporarily 
subject  to  the  Crown.  No  Irish  members  were  to  sit 
at  Westminster.  Either  order  was  to  possess  a  temporary 
veto  and  both  were  to  meet  in  the  one  house  for  debate. 

For  three  hours  and  a  half  Mr.  Gladstone  unfolded 
his  plan  in  the  Commons,  being  "  greeted  with  en- 
thusiastic cheers  from  the  Liberal  and  Irish  benches." 

"  His  exquisite  voice,  flexible  in  the  highest  degree, 
rose  in  declamation  or  sank  in  appeal,  as  he  denounced 
the  infamy  of  the  Act  of  Union,  or  pleaded  for  justice 
and  fair-play  for  a  long- tried  and  sorely  oppressed  land." 
(D'Alton.) 

The  Conservative  party  opposed  the  measure,  raising 
the  cry  that  "  Home  Rule  meant  Rome  Rule,"  and  a 
number  of  the  Liberals  themselves  seceded  from  Glad- 
stone, eventually  calling  themselves  Liberal-Unionists— 
the  chief  man  amongst  these  was  Mr.  Joseph  Chamber- 
lain— and  voted  against  the  Bill,  which  was  defeated 
in  that  same  year  by  a  majority  of  thirty  in  the  Com- 
mons. 

Mr.  Gladstone  and  the  ministry  thereupon  resigned 
and  went  to  the  country,  when  the  Conservatives  were 
returned  to  power. 

The  "  Land  War "  was  resumed  with  all  the  old 
bitterness  and  fierceness.  On  the  suppression  of  the 
Land  League,  the  "  Irish  National  League  "  had  been 
formed.  The  chief  planks  in  its  programme  were  Home 
Rule,  peasant  proprietary  and  local  self -government. 
Parnell  proposed  a  Land  Bill  to  the  effect  "  that  the 
proceedings  for  the  recovery  of  rent  be  suspended  on 
payment  of  half  the  rent  and  arrears."  There  were 


PARNEU/S   DRAMATIC   TRIUMPH   AND   FALL.         317 

evictions  for  lent  taking  place  all  over  Ireland,  the 
people  being  turned  out  as  before  by  the  roadside  from 
their  homesteads  for  either  inability  or  refusal  to  pay 
the  rent. 

The  Bill  was  rejected,  whereupon  Mr.  William  O'Brien 
brought  forward  his  famous  "  Plan  of  Campaign." 
Its  scheme  was,  briefly,  that  the  tenant  should  offer  a 
fair  rent,  and,  should  the  landlord  refuse  to  accept  it, 
should  bank  the  money  with  a  committee  specially 
elected,  and  "  fight  "  the  landlord  with  the  money  thus 
lodged  ;  the  funds  were  to  be  supplemented  by  grants 
from  the  National  League  funds,  and  evicted  tenants 
were  to  be  supported. 

Conflicts  innumerable  ensued  between  the  police  and 
the  people  at  the  evictions  that  followed,  and  on  this 
account,  even  "  Mr.  Gladstone  attacked  both  police  and 
Government  with  vigour."  Mr.  Arthur  Balfour,  the 
Conservative  Chief  Secretary,  came  in  for  as  much 
odium  as  "  Buckshot  Forster."  Newspapers  were  again 
suppressed  ;  more  Coercion  Acts  followed,  and  Messrs. 
John  Dillon,  William  O'Brien  and  T.  D.  Sullivan 
were  put  in  gaol,  while  a  Mr.  John  Mandeville  died  in 
prison.  O'Brien  refused  to  wear  prison  clothes,  and  so 
was  stripped  and  left  without  any  in  his  cell,  when — 
lo  and  behold  !  next  morning,  on  the  gaoler  entering, 
he  was  seen  to  be  wearing  a  brand-new  suit  of  Blarney  tweed  ! 

Immense  were  the  amusement  and  delight  of  the 
Irish  people  and  the  chagrin  of  the  Conservative  Govern- 
ment. It  was  a  mystery  how  O'Brien  obtained  the 
clothes,  but  it  is  supposed  that  a  friendly  warder  went 
into  his  cell  wearing  two  suits. 

While  in  prison  Mr.  O'Brien  wrote  his  famous  novel, 


3l8  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

"  When  we  were  Boys,"  a  stirring  tale  of  the  Fenian 
period. 

The  London  Times  newspaper  now  published  a 
series  of  articles  under  the  title  of  "  Parnellism  and 
Crime,"  apparently  to  show  Mr.  Parnell's  connection 
with  agrarian  and  political  outrages  committed  in 
Ireland.  What  purported  to  be  a  facsimile  of  a  letter 
written  by  Mr.  Parnell  in  reference  to  the  Phoenix  Park 
murders  was  printed.  This  letter  asserted  that  Mr. 
Burke  got  no  more  than  his  deserts,  and  that  "  to  de- 
nounce the  murders  was  the  only  course  open  to  him 
(Mr.  Parnell)  and  his  colleagues  in  Parliament,  and  to 
do  so  promptly  was  plainly  their  best  policy." 

Mr.  Parnell  at  once  declared  the  letter  to  be  a  forgery, 
but  did  not  take  immediate  action  against  the  Times 
whereupon  his  enemies  proclaimed  him  afraid  to  do 
so.  But  Parnell  never  hurried  himself  ;  he  bided  his 
time  and  then  struck — when  it  suited  him  best.  He 
demanded  that  a  Parliamentary  Committee  of  the  House 
of  Commons  should  investigate  the  matter  of  the 
forgeries.  The  Government  eventually  established  a 
Special  Commission,  consisting  of  three  judges,  to  deal 
with  the  matter. 

The  now  famous  "  Parnell  Commission  "  opened  its 
sitting  in  September,  1888,  and  the  chief  advocate  of  the 
Irish  members  was  one  who  later  became  the  Lord  Chief 
Justice,  a  patriotic  Irishman  himself,  Sir  Charles 
Russell.  His  "  admirable  management  of  the  case 
for  his  clients  wonderfully  increased  his  already  brilliant 
reputation  "  (Denvir).  The  letters  had  been  obtained 
from  one  Richard  Pigott,  who  was  shown  now  to  be  a 
"  discredited  Irish  journalist,"  living  by  blackmail, 


PARNEU/S   DRAMATIC   TRIUMPH   AND   FAU,.         319 

"  and  as  a  begging-letter  impostor."  He  was  subjected 
to  a  merciless  cross-examination  in  the  witness-box 
by  Sir  Charles  Russell,  who  asked  him  to  write  certain 
words  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  "  livelihood,"  "  likelihood," 
and  finally  "  hesitancy,  with  a  small  '  h.'  '  Pigott 
spelled  the  last  word,  which  was  really  the  trap-word, 
"  hesitency."  The  "  small  h  "  suggestion  was  merely 
a  ruse  to  throw  Pigott  off  his  guard. 

"  Have  you  noticed,"  asked  Sir  Charles,  "  that  the 
writer  of  the  body  of  the  letter  of  the  8th  January, 
1882," — one  of  the  forgeries — "  spells  it  in  the  same 
way  ?  " 

The  wretched  forger,  for  such  he  was,  almost  in  a 
state  of  collapse,  replied,  "  that  having  that  in  my 
mind,  I  got  into  the  habit  of  spelling  it  wrong." 

Sir  Charles  then  caused  begging  letters  that  Pigott 
had  sent  to  Mr.  Forster,  when  Chief  Secretary  for  Ire- 
land, to  be  read  in  court,  exposing  the  witness's  past 
terribly.  It  was  pretty  plain  that  Pigott  had  himself 
forged  the  letters  attributed  to  Mr.  Parnell,  and  it  is 
a  matter  for  surprise  that  Sir  Charles  did  not  make  an 
application  for  the  witness's  safe  custody.  On  the 
following  day,  a  Saturday,  Pigott  went  uninvited  to 
Mr.  Henry  Labouchere,  a  famous  Radical  M.P.,  and  the 
proprietor  of  Truth  and  to  him  and  his  literary 
friend,  George  Augustus  Sala,  he  confessed  to  having 
forged  the  letters.  He  explained  that  he  had  used 
genuine  letters  of  Mr.  Parnell  and  a  Mr.  Egan  so  as  to 
get  the  general  character  of  the  handwriting,  tracing 
some  of  the  words  and  phrases  against  a  window. 

When  the  Commission  re-opened  on  the  Tuesday, 
February  26th,  1889,  Pigott  was  not  to  be  found.  He 


320  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

had  fled  the  country.  Sir  Charles  Russell  then  dra- 
matically proclaimed,  "  We  deliberately  charge  that 
behind  Pigott  and  Houston  " — the  secretary  of  the  Irish 
Loyal  and  Patriotic  Union,  who  had  obtained  the  letters 
from  Pigott  and  supplied  them  to  the  Times — "  there 
has  been  a  foul  conspiracy." 

Mr.  Parnell  obtained  £5,000  damages  from  the 
Times. 

Pigott  was  ultimately  traced  to  Madrid,  where  he 
passed  under  the  name  of  "  Roland  Ponsonby."  A 
police  officer  called  on  him,  and  Pigott,  opening  a  hand- 
bag, took  out  a  revolver  and  shot  himself  through  the 
head. 

But  this  triumph  of  Parnell's  was  counterbalanced 
in  1890,  by  his  failure  to  defend  himself  in  a  divorce 
action  brought  by  Captain  O'Shea.  It  was  believed 
at  first  that  he  was  innocent  of  the  charge  preferred 
against  him  in  this  matter  also,  but  his  refusal  to  answer 
to  it  proved  otherwise. 

In  grief  and  consternation,  the  Irish  Parliamentary 
party,  supported  by  the  Irish  Catholic  prelates,  decided, 
by  a  majority,  that  he  could  no  longer  lead  them,  and 
deposed  him.  A  prominent  author  and  journalist, 
Mr.  Justin  McCarthy,  was  elected  in  his  place,  and  thus 
the  party  became  divided  into  those  who  were  against 
and  for  Parnell,  the  latter  being  known  as  "  Parnellites  " 
and  the  former  as  Anti-Parnellites  or  McCarthyites. 

The  long  debates  on  the  matter  were  held  in  Committee 
Room  No.  15,  which  room  has  consequently  become 
famous  among  Irishmen  throughout  the  world.  Parnell 
himself  refused  to  retire  from  public  life  or  abide  by  the 
decision  of  the  majority.  The  Anti-Parnellites  or 


PARNEU/S   DRAMATIC   TRIUMPH   AND   FALL.         32! 

McCarthyites  numbered  45,  or  in  all  counting  5  delegates 
in  America,  50  ;  those  who  still  stood  by  the  old  leader 
were  30  in  number.  Against  Parnell  were  arrayed 
Healy,  Sexton,  Dillon,  Dr.  Tanner,  William  O'Brien, 
T.  P.  O'Connor,  T.  D.  Sullivan,  etc.  ;  and  to  him  still 
clung  John  Edward  Redmond,  and  Win.  H.  K.  Red- 
mond, Clancy,  Harrington,  I^eamy,  O'Kelly,  P.  O'Brien, 
and  others  of  less  note. 

Parnell  and  his  followers  opposed  the  McCarthyites 
at  the  elections,  and  bitter  and  lamentable  was  now  the 
recrimination  that  went  on  between  the  two  opposing 
factions.  Everywhere  Irishmen  were  divided,  for  or 
against  the  old  Chief.  In  the  main,  Ireland  decided 
against  him  and  his  party,  but  "  all  Dublin  was  with 
him,"  and  "  attended  by  a  boisterous  mob,"  he  broke 
into  the  offices  of  United  Ireland,  the  revived  Nationalist 
organ,  and  turned  it  into  a  Parnellite  one.  The  Free- 
man's Journal  also  supported  him.  But  he  descended 
to  abuse  unworthy  of  his  great  past,  and  the  Freeman's 
Journal  turned  against  him,  while  a  Nationalist  organ 
was  established,  known  as  the  National  Press.  Parnell 
then  established  the  Irish  Daily  Independent.  He 
married  Mrs.  O'Shea,  the  woman  concerned  in  his  fall, 
in  June  ;  but  in  the  same  year  "  under  the  strain  of 
disappointment  and  excitement,  and  travelling  in  all 
sorts  of  weather,  his  health  began  to  fail.  It  had  not 
been  of  the  best  for  some  years  previously.  At  the  end 
of  September,  1891,  cold  and  exposure  brought  on  an 
attack  of  rheumatism  and  he  died  suddenly  on  the  7th 
of  October  at  Brighton."  His  old  and  first  colleague, 
Joseph  Gillis  Biggar,  of  "  Obstruction  "  fame,  had  died 
in  the  previous  year. 

T 


322  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

All  Ireland  now,  forgetting  the  bitter  factionism  of  the 
last  few  months,  mourned  Parnell  as  one  of  the  greatest 
of  her  sons  within  recent  times.  He  had  certainly 
been,  at  the  height  of  his  career,  her  "  uncrowned 
king."  His  funeral  at  Glasnevin  on  the  following  Sun- 
day was  an  evidence  of  this,  being  attended  by  an  enor- 
mous crowd — something  like  200,000. 

"  The  end  of  Parnell  was  a  tragedy,"  writes  the 
Rev.  Dr.  D' Alton,  "  with  scarce  a  parallel  in  Irish  his- 
tory, so  many  of  the  pages  of  which  are  blotted  by  tears. 
Dying  one  year  earlier,  the  whole  Irish  race  would  have 
wept  at  his  open  grave.  But  the  events  of  the  last 
year  had  alienated  from  him  the  affections  of  millions. 
.  .  .  .  With  his  own  hands  he  had  deliberately 
pulled  down  the  pillars  of  the  temple  he  had  reared. 
Yet,  with  all  his  faults,  he  looms  large  among  the  great- 
est of  Ireland's  sons.  .  .  In  patience  and  foresight, 
in  tenacity  of  purpose  and  strength  of  will,  we  must, 
to  find  his  equal,  go  back  to  Hugh  O'Neill  or  Brian 
Bom.  .  .  .  Not  yet,  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury after  his  death,  can  full  justice  be  done  to  him. 
.  .  .  But  .  .  .  when  brighter  and  better  days 
come  .  .  .  Irishmen  will  then  think  of  the  man 
who  struck  such  vigorous  blows  on  their  behalf." 

This  is  a  noble  tribute  to  Parnell's  memory,  but  who 
will  say  that  it  is  undeserved  or  too  fulsome  ? 

O'Connor  Morris,  a  rather  hostile  critic,  writes  of 
him  in  "  Ireland  from  1798  to  1898  "  :  "  He  was  a 
natural  ruler  of  men  ;  in  sheer  force  of  character  he 
towered,  not  only  over  the  submissive  band  which 
crawled  at  his  feet,  but  over  the  English  politicians 
he  outwitted  and  deceived  That  he  did 


PARNEIJ/S   DRAMATIC   TRIUMPH   AND   FAU,.         323 

his  country  good  may  be,  perhaps,  admitted."  This 
is  grudging  praise,  but  nevertheless  it  is  praise,  and, 
coming  from  a  political  opponent  and  a  County  Court 
Judge,  speaks  volumes  for  Parnell. 


324  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
IN  SIGHT  OF  HOME  RULE. 

James  Stephens,  the  Fenian  Head  Centre,  who  had 
been  suffered  to  return  to  his  native  land  in  his  old  age, 
paid  his  homage  to  the  dead  Chief  by  visiting  the  grave 
and  placing  a  wreath  upon  it. 

The  Parnellites  and  Anti-Parnellites  remained  oppo- 
sed to  one  another  for  eight  years  after  his  death.  John 
E.  Redmond,  his  able  lieutenant,  took  up  the  mantle 
of  the  dead  Chief  and  became  leader  of  his  party.  In 
the  following  year,  Mr.  Gladstone  and  the  Liberals, 
who  had  been  in  opposition  since  1886,  were  returned 
to  power.  The  "  Grand  Old  Man,"  as  Gladstone  was 
affectionately  called  by  his  friends  and  supporters, 
introduced  a  SECOND  HOME  RULE  BILL.  It 
passed  through  the  Commons  by  a  majority  of  34, 
but  the  Upper  House  threw  it  out. 

It  differed  somewhat  from  the  Bill  of  1886.  Instead 
of  two  orders  sitting  together,  there  were  to  have  been 
a  Legislative  Council  of  48  members,  elected  by  those 
rated  at  £20  or  upwards,  and  a  Legislative  Assembly 
of  103  members,  elected  by  existing  voters,  the  two 
Houses  to  sit  separately.  The  Council  was  to  be  elected 
for  eight  years,  the  Assembly  for  five.  The  Viceroy 
would  be  non-political  and  appointed  for  six  years, 


IN  SIGHT  OF  HOME  RULE.  325 

with  powers  to  assent  to  Bills  or  exercise  a  veto,  subject 
to  consultation  with  the  Irish  Cabinet.  Ireland  was  to 
send  80  members  to  represent  her  at  Westminster  in 
the  Imperial  Parliament.  In  all  purely  Irish  matters 
the  Irish  Parliament  would  be  supreme,  but  it  might 
not  endow  or  restrict  any  religious  belief. 

Gladstone  "  was  not  in  a  position  to  fight  the  Lords 
on  the  question."  He  had  long  been  threatened 
with  cataract  in  both  his  eyes,  and,  in  1894,  the  vener- 
able statesman  retired  from  public  life.  He  died  on 
May  9th,  1898,  to  the  sorrow  even  of  many  of  his  political 
enemies,  one  of  the  greatest  and  noblest  men  England 
ever  produced,  and  one  whom  Irishmen  will  ever 
revere  and  think  of  kindly. 

Lord  Rosebery  succeeded  Gladstone  as  Prime  Minister, 
but  he  was  no  friend  of  Home  Rule,  and  now  dissension 
appeared  even  in  the  ranks  of  the  Anti-Parnellites 
themselves.  Mr.  Sexton  threatened  to  resign,  and 
Mr.  Dillon  and  Mr.  Healy  quarrelled. 

The  Conservatives  came  into  power  in  1895.  Lord 
Salisbury  was  Premier  in  the  Lords,  with  Mr.  Arthur 
Balfour  Leader  of  the  Commons,  and  Joseph  Chamber- 
lain as  Colonial  Secretary.  Home  Rule  was,  therefore, 
once  again  "  in  the  dust."  The  squabbling  went  on  in 
the  Irish  Parliamentary  ranks  and,  in  1896,  Justin 
McCarthy  resigned  from  the  chairmanship  of  his  party. 
Sexton  refused  the  vacant  chair  and  so  John  Dillon 
was  elected.  A  "  National  Convention  "  was  sum- 
moned in  Dublin,  September,  1896,  and  was  attended 
by  2,500  delegates  from  all  parts  of  the  Irish  world. 
The  Redmondites,  as  the  old  Parnellites  were  now 
called,  and  the  Healyites,  did  not  attend.  Dr.  O'Donnell, 


326  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

Bishop  of  Raphoe,  presided.  But  the  attempt  to  restore 
unity  and  unanimity  in  the  Irish  Party  was  a  failure. 
In  1898  Mr.  William  O'Brien  started  the  United  Irish 
League,  and  this  organisation  absorbed  the  old  National 
League,  and  "  spoke  out  for  harmony  among  the 
leaders." 

Sir  Horace  Plunkett,  a  Protestant  and  Unionist  land- 
lord of  broad  mind  and  generous  views,  now  won  for 
Ireland  an  "  Act  for  establishing  a  Department  of 
Agriculture  and  Technical  Instruction,  and  for  other 
purposes  connected  therewith."  John  Dillon  suggested 
a  conference  of  Parnellites  and  Anti-Parnellites,  and 
offered  to  resign  the  chair  and  serve  under  a  Parnellite 
chairman,  "  a  noble  act  of  self-effacement  and  patriot- 
ism." It  was  not,  however,  until  1899  that  the  "  split  " 
was  healed  by  a  rapprochement  between  the  two 
parties,  when  Mr.  John  Redmond,  the  Parnellite 
leader,  became  Chairman,  by  common  consent,  of  the 
reunited  Irish  party.  He  has  led  it  ever  since  with 
conspicuous  ability,  and  is  regarded  to-day  in  much  the 
same  light  as  Parnell  at  the  zenith  of  his  power. 

The  Boer  War  broke  out,  and  was  followed  by  the 
death  of  Queen  Victoria.  On  March  29th,  1901, 
the  aged  Fenian  Chief,  James  Stephens,  died,  at  Black- 
rock.  He  was  given  a  grand  public  funeral,  vast 
crowds  lining  the  streets  as  the  six-horsed  hearse, 
laden  with  wreaths,  passed  to  Glasnevin. 

In  1902  "  Colonel  "  Lynch,  who  commanded  an  Irish 
Brigade  in  the  Boer  service  against  the  British  army, 
was  elected  M.P.  for  Galway  city.  He  was  arrested  on 
a  charge  of  high  treason  in  the  same  year.  Tried  at  the 
King's  Bench,  he  was  sentenced  to  death  on  the  2jrd 


IN  SIGHT  OF  HOME  RUI,E.  327 

January,  1903.  The  sentence  was  afterwards  commuted 
to  penal  servitude  for  life,  but  he  was  released  "  on 
licence  "  after  the  lapse  of  a  year,  and  in  1907  he  received 
a  free  pardon. 

In  order  to  finish  the  Boer  War,  the  Conservatives 
had  been  returned  to  power  at  the  General  Election  of 
1900,  and,  in  1903,  Mr.  George  Wyndham,  the  Chief 
Secretary  for  Ireland,  carried  a  Land  Purchase  Bill 
through  Parliament.  Mr.  Wyndham  is  a  great-grandson 
of  Lord  Edward,  the  gallant  Geraldine  of  '98. 

His  Bill  "  contemplated  the  total  abolition  of  Irish 
landlordism  and  the  final  settlement  of  the  Irish  Land 
question,  and  for  this  purpose  a  sum  of  100  million 
pounds  was  to  be  advanced  by  the  State  to  enable  the 
tenants  to  buy."  Mr.  John  Redmond  described  it 
"  as  the  greatest  measure  of  land  purchase  reform  ever 
seriously  offered  to  the  Irish  people,"  and  Mr.  T.  W. 
Russell,  a  former  Unionist  Irish  M.P.,  supported  it,  as 
did  John  Dillon,  Timothy  Healy,  and  William  O'Brien. 
In  order  to  induce  landlords  to  sell  their  land,  12  millions 
were  to  be  given  to  them  as  a  bonus.  The  Act  became 
law,  and,  in  the  words  of  T.  W.  Russell,  was  "  the 
greatest  measure  passed  for  Ireland  since  the  Union." 
A  great  many  purchases  have  been  effected  under  the 
Act. 

In  1906,  however,  at  the  General  Election,  the  Con- 
servatives were  simply  routed.  Mr.  Balfour,  their 
leader,  who  had  made  himself  almost  as  unpopular  in 
Ireland  as  Forster  of  the  earlier  regime,  suffering 
defeat  in  person  at  the  polls.  The  new  Premier,  Sir 
Henry  Campbell-Bannerman,  was  a  staunch  Home 
Ruler,  and  he  had  in  his  cabinet  men  of  the  same  decided 


328  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

views  on  Ireland,  John  Morley,  Lloyd-George,  Birrell, 
Bryce,  etc.  Mr.  Bryce  became  Chief  Secretary,  but 
only  held  the  office  for  a  session.  Mr.  Augustine  Birrell, 
an  author  of  high  repute,  succeeded  him. 

In  1907  Mr.  Birrell  brought  in  an  Irish  Councils  Bill, 
which  was  to  reform  the  system  of  Irish  Government. 
An  Irish  Council  was  to  be  formed  of  107  members — 
84  elected  and  23  nominated — and  take  over  the  powers 
of  National,  Intermediate  and  Local  Government 
Boards.  Sir  Anthony  MacDonnell  is  accredited  with 
its  suggestion.  The  Bill  was,  however,  dropped,  as 
a  National  Convention  in  Dublin  would  not  accept  it. 
This  Bill  was  practically  the  same  as  "  Devolution," 
proposed  by  Lord  Dunraven — that  is,  a  modified  form  of 
Home  Rule. 

Michael  Davitt,  the  Fenian,  Land  Leaguer,  and  M.P., 
died  in  1906,  greatly  lamented  by  his  party.  In  1908 
Mr.  Birrell  passed  the  Irish  Universities  Bill.  This 
solved  the  problem  of  higher  education  in  Ireland. 
Two  new  Universities  were  established — the  National 
in  Dublin,  with  the  Queen's  Colleges  of  Cork  and  Galway, 
and  Belfast  University.  Various  incomes  of  between 
twelve  and  thirty-two  thousand  pounds  were  given 
to  the  colleges,  and  the  National  University  received 
£150,000  for  buildings,  and  Belfast  £60,000.  There 
were  to  be  no  religious  tests  in  either  University,  but 
the  National  University  was  to  be  governed  in  the  main 
by  Catholics,  and  Belfast  by  Presbyterians. 

This  measure  gratified  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  in 
no  small  degree,  and  was  particularly  well  received  by 
the  Catholic  hierarchy. 

Throughout  this  year  and  the  preceding  one,  a  number 


IN  SIGHT  OF  HOME  RULE.  329 

of  persons  were  charged  with  "  cattle-driving,"  the 
newest  form  of  agrarian  disorder  ;  cattle  of  unpopular 
parties  being  driven  miles  away  from  home  in  the  dead 
of  night,  sometimes  by  large,  organised  mobs  of  men, 
and  then  abandoned.  A  serious  conflict  occurred 
between  the  police  and  the  people  at  Ennistymon, 
County  Clare  ;  and,  in  County  Sligo,  there  was  a  des- 
perate affray,  in  which  one  of  the  cattle-drivers  was 
shot  dead  and  several  of  the  police  injured. 

About  this  time,  too,  a  new  party  began  to  make 
itself  heard,  the  Sinn  Fein  party.  The  words  are  Irish 
for  "  ourselves. "  The  "  Sinn  Feiners  "  would  have 
the  Irish  Parliamentary  Party  abstain  from  going  to 
Westminster,  and  proposed  the  discouragement  of  the 
use  of  articles  of  English  manufacture  and  the  boy- 
cotting generally  of  everything  English  ;  Irish  history 
alone  should  be  studied,  and  the  Irish  language,  sports, 
etc.,  revived,  and  Irish  goods  exclusively  supported. 
They  went  farther  ;  they  would  taboo  the  Irish  Parlia- 
mentary Party  for  recognising  English  legislature. 
In  1907,  "  they  were  a  source  of  uneasiness  and  alarm 
to  the  Irish  Party."  But  milder  views  prevailed. 

Previous  to  this,  some  years  earlier,  the  "  Gaelic 
League "  had  been  founded,  in  1893  to  be  exact, 
"  for  the  purpose  of  reviving  the  Irish  language,  pro- 
moting the  study  of  Irish  literature,  and  supporting 
Irish  industries,"  and  awakened  great  enthusiasm  and 
support.  Gaelic  studies  were  promoted  everywhere, 
and  a  chair  for  the  Irish  language  was  suggested  for  the 
new  Catholic  University. 

Trouble  now  again  broke  out  in  the  Irish  Parliamen- 
tary ranks.  William  O'Brien  and  Timothy  Healy 


330  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

differed  with  the  others  and  more  or  less  separated  from 
them,  with  a  small  following,  and,  in  1910,  at  Cork, 
for  which  constituency  O'Brien  was  a  member,  the 
"  All  for  Ireland  "  league  was  formed  in  partial  oppo- 
sition to  the  United  Irish  league. 

Mr.  Birrell  removed  some  of  the  causes  of  the  cattle- 
driving  and  recent  boycotting  by  introducing  a  Land 
Act  in  1909,  by  which  provision  for  future  purchases 
could  be  raised  by  the  issue  of  3  per  cent,  stock.  In 
making  advances,  the  treasury  were  to  issue  such  stock, 
vice  cash ;  the  congested  districts  board  was  reconsti- 
tuted, its  income  increased,  and  the  area  of  its  work 
extended  ;  while  compulsory  powers  of  purchase  were 
given  to  estate  commissioners,  as  well  as  to  the  congested 
districts  board.  This  allayed  the  agrarian  disorders. 
In  the  following  year  the  new  King,  George  V.,  was 
proclaimed  at  Dublin  Castle  in  the  Privy  Council 
Chamber,  and  by  the  Ulster  King  of  Arms  at  various 
public  places  in  the  city,  and  later  in  Cork,  Belfast 
and  other  cities.  The  O'Brienite  and  Nationalist 
factions  came  in  collision  in  County  Cork,  and  a  serious 
riot  took  place,  when  the  police  fired  over  the  heads 
of  the  crowd,  accidentally  shooting  a  man  named  Regan, 
who  afterwards  died.  A  Mr.  E.  O'Sullivan,  M.P., 
who  had  been  elected  for  East  Kerry,  was  unseated 
by  a  decision  of  the  courts  declaring  that  his  agents  had 
been  guilty  of  intimidation  and  undue  influence. 


HOME  RULE  ON  THE   CARPET.  331 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
HOME  RULE  ON  THE  CARPET. 

The  Liberal  Government's  Finance  Bill  and  Budget 
having  been  rejected  by  the  House  of  Lords,  the  Prime 
Minister,  Mr.  Asquith,  went  to  the  country  on  the 
question  of  whether  the  Lords  or  the  Commons  should 
rule ;  he  proposed  limiting  the  veto  of  the  Upper 
Chamber.  To  carry  out  this  proposal,  he  was  trium- 
phantly returned  to  power  at  the  General  Election, 
and  he  then  brought  in  his  Veto  Bill,  which  greatly 
curtailed  the  veto,  or  power  of  the  Lords  to  throw  out 
any  measure  repugnant  to  them.  Their  right  to  inter- 
fere at  all  with  a  Money  Bill  had  been  previously  ques- 
tioned, and  it  was  now  decided  that,  if  they  rejected 
a  measure  passed  by  the  Commons,  it  was  to  be  referred 
hack  to  the  Commons,  and  if  these  again  passed  it,  it 
was  to  go  to  the  Sovereign  for  approval,  and,  on  receiving 
that,  pass  into  law  as  if  agreed  to  by  the  Second  House. 

The  passing  of  the  Veto  Bill  was  received  with 
acclamation  in  Ireland,  for  the  House  of  Lords  had 
always  been  the  uncompromising  foes  of  the  popular 
claims  there.  With  his  road  thus  cleared,  Mr.  Asquith 
brought  forward  his  long-looked-for  Home  Rule  Bill,  the 
THIRD  HOME  RULE  BILL.  He  introduced  it  in  the 
House,  on  behalf  of  the  Government,  on  the  nth  of 


332  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

April,  1912,  and  it  was  "  received  with  satisfaction 
throughout  the  United  Kingdom,"  saving  as  regards 
the  Unionist  section  of  the  community.  The  Irish 
National  Convention,  representing  not  only  Nationalist 
organisations,  but  also  local  government  authorities 
in  Ireland,  accepted  the  Bill  with  enthusiastic  unani- 
mity. • 

By  this  Bill,  as  Mr.  Asquith  said,  "  the  supremacy, 
absolute  and  sovereign,  of  the  Imperial  Parliament, 
is  maintained  unimpaired  and  beyond  the  reach  of 
challenge  or  of  question  "  ;  and  Mr.  John  Redmond, 
the  Irish  Leader,  declared,  "  We  want  peace  with  this 
country  (England).  We  deny  that  we  are  separatists, 
and  we  say  we  are  willing  ...  to  accept  a  subor- 
dinate Parliament  created  by  Statute  of  this  Imperial 
Legislature  as  a  final  settlement  of  Ireland's  claims." 

The  following  was  the  original  draft  of  the  Bill,  but 
in  one  or  two  minor  instances  the  clauses  were  slightly 
altered  during  debate  in  the  House  : 

The  Irish  Parliament  is  to  consist  of  His  Majesty  the 
King,  and  two  Houses,  namely,  the  Irish  Senate  and  the 
Irish  House  of  Commons.  The  Commons  shall  consist 
of  164  members  returned  by  the  constituencies  in  the 
ordinary  way.  The  Senate  shall  consist  of  40  members. 
They  will  at  first  be  named  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
as  the  mouthpiece  of  the  King,  who,  of  course,  will  be 
guided  by  his  Ministers  in  making  the  selections. 
By  lots  it  will  then  be  decided  which  of  the  senators 
shall  retire  in  two  years'  time,  in  four,  six  and  eight, 
ten  of  them  retiring  thus  every  two  years,  when  they 
will  be  elected  by  the  Irish  people,  of  course.  A  man 
may  be  elected  to  either  the  Senate  or  the  Commons, 


HOME  RULE  ON  THE   CARPET.  333 

but  he  may  not  be  a  member  of  both  Houses  at  the  same 
time.  He  may  speak  in  either  or  both,  but  he  can 
only  vote  in  that  House  to  which  he  belongs.  The 
Senate  may  not  veto  Money  Bills,  and  such  may  only 
be  started  in  the  Commons.  When  the  two  Houses 
differ,  they  are  to  meet  jointly,  when  they  will  vote 
together,  and  the  vote  of  the  majority  of  the  two  com- 
bined Houses,  thus  met  together,  will  decide  the  matter. 

An  Irish  Cabinet  or  Government,  of  course,  will  be 
necessary,  and  the  leader  of  the  majority  in  the  two 
Houses  will  form  the  Ministry,  for  appointment  by  the 
Lord  Lieutenant.  The  Executive  Departments  or 
Offices  will  be  very  similar  to  those  of  the  Imperial 
Parliament,  save,  of  course,  there  will  be  no  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty,  or  offices  of  that  nature.  At  first  the  Royal 
Irish  Constabulary  will  be  controlled  by  the  Imperial 
Parliament,  but  after  six  years  the  Irish  Parliament 
"  will,  without  any  further  discussion,  take  over  charge 
of  that  force." 

The  Irish  Parliament  will  have  power  to  do  every- 
thing in  reason  that  is  coincident  with  the  unity  and 
welfare  of  the  great  British  empire.  What  it  may  not 
do  is  "  pass  laws  relating  to  the  making  of  peace,  or 
war,  or  matters  arising  from  a  state  of  war,  or  dealing 
with  the  Crown,  the  Navy,  Army,  foreign  affairs, 
lighthouses,  coinage,  etc.,  or  alter  the  election  laws  or 
any  provision  of  the  Home  Rule  Act  itself.  "  Any  law 
made  by  the  Irish  Parliament  in  defiance  of  these  res- 
trictions is  to  be  void." 

A  sum  of  £500,000  will  be  given  by  the  Imperial  Par- 
liament to  the  Irish  Government  for  three  years,  after 
that  the  sum  will  be  reduced  by  £50,000  annually  for 


334  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

six  years,  until  it  reaches  £200,000,  at  which  figure 
it  will  remain  until  Ireland  can  pay  her  own  way.  Until 
then  all  the  taxes  levied  in  Ireland  are  to  be  paid  into 
the  Imperial  Exchequer.  The  Irish  Parliament  will 
have  power  to  increase,  or  reduce  or  omit  to  levy  any 
Imperial  tax,  and  may  impose  any  tax,  not  substan- 
tially the  same  as  the  Imperial  tax.  Imports  may  not 
be  taxed,  different  to  those  which  the  Imperial  Parlia- 
ment taxes.  "  No  preference,  privilege,  or  advantage 
is  to  be  given  on  account  of  religious  belief,  and  no 
disability  or  advantage  is  to  be  imposed  because  of  it." 
The  Irish  Parliament  may  not  make  any  religious  cere- 
mony or  belief  a  condition  of  the  lawfulness  of  any 
marriage.  And  so  "  there  is  no  danger  of  the  Catholic 
Church  being  established  by  law  in  that  country  .  .  . 
Thus  ....  the  rights  of  Protestants  and  minori- 
ties will  be  protected." 

The  position  of  Irish  Civil  Servants  will  be  substan- 
tially the  same  as  before.  A  special  Committee  will  be 
set  up  to  watch  over  their  interests.  It  will  consist  of 
three  members,  one  appointed  by  the  Treasury,  one  by 
the  Executive,  and  one  (the  chairman)  by  the  Lord 
Chief  Justice  of  England.  The  Lord  Lieutenant  will 
alone  have  the  power  of  removing  civil  servants  from 
office. 

Ireland  will  be  represented  in  the  Imperial  Parliament 
by  42  members,  instead  of  her  present  103.  No  Univer- 
sity will  elect  one  of  these  members,  as  they  will  consist 
of  8  borough  members  and  34  county  members.  Belfast 
will  have  4  of  the  8  borough  members,  Dublin  3,  and 
Cork  i.  Of  the  34  County  members,  Ulster  will  be  re- 
presented by  ii,  Munster  9,  Leinster  8,  and  Connaught6. 


HOME  RULE  ON  THE  CARPET.  335 

Such  is  the  great  scheme  of  Mr.  Asquith's  Home 
Rule  Bill.  It  passed  the  Third  Reading  in  the  Com- 
mons with  the  grand  majority  of  no,  on  January  i6th, 
1913,  amid  scenes  of  the  greatest  enthusiasm,  cheers 
being  given  for  Mr.  Asquith,  Mr.  Redmond,  and  the 
late  Mr.  Parnell. 

The  House  of  Lords,  as  was  expected,  promptly 
threw  out  the  Bill,  but  the  Veto  Act  has  effectually 
curtailed  the  autocratic  power  of  the  Upper  House, 
and  in  due  course,  unless  something  very  unforeseen 
happens,  the  Bill  will  become  law  and  we  shall  see  an 
Irish  Parliament  sitting  again  in  Dublin  as  in  Grattan's 
day. 

Ireland  will  then  be  "  A  NATION  ONCE  AGAIN," 
and  Thomas  Davis's  dream  will  have  been  realised. 

With  Ireland  ruled  by  a  Government  of  her  own, 
Irish  capital  will,  no  doubt,  flow  in  from  all  quarters 
of  the  globe  to  aid  her  sons  at  home  to  revive  old  indus- 
tries and  found  new  ones  ;  her  art,  literature,  sculpture 
and  music  will  receive  an  impetus  that  has  been  long 
wanting,  and  she  will  again  enjoy  "  national  health." 
Emigration,  as  a  natural  consequence,  must  cease, 
and  immigration  begin  ;  the  population  will  increase, 
no  longer  decrease,  and  may  speedily  rise  to  and  perhaps 
surpass  that  of  the  nine  millions  before  1848.  As  evi- 
dence of  this  we  may  point  to  Belfast,  which  owes  its 
prosperity  and  large  population  at  the  present  day 
solely  to  the  great  encouragement  that  has  been  given 
in  every  way  to  its  industries  :  hitherto  the  rest  of 
Ireland  has  been  starved  in  this  respect. 

Of  course  we  must  not  expect  any  sudden  or  great 
change  in  the  condition  of  things ;  Rome  was  not 


336  THE    ROMANCE    OF    IRISH    HISTORY. 

built  in  a  day  ;  and  what  we  prophesy  will,  to  a  great 
extent,  be  a  matter  of  time.  But,  with  the  dawn 
of  a  better  understanding  between  the  English  and 
Irish  peoples,  the  engenderment  of  a  kindlier  spirit, 
much  should  undoubtedly  be  looked  for.  Britannia 
and  Erin  will  clasp  hands  over  the  dead  ashes  of  old 
animosities,  and  march  forward  side  by  side — linked 
in  sisterly  love  at  last — to  their  joint  destiny  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 


THE   END. 


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